Political Alliances
by Agent-G
Summary: After the failed invasion, Suna decides on making a marriage alliance with Konoha to strengthen ties with them. They chose Temari but for her new husband they chose the most unusual choice in Naruto. How will this new alliance affect both their lives? *Lemons edited out*
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto only just the story I'm writing. **

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 1: Games of Politics**

In the heart of the dessert of the country of Wind, fortified by high walls of rock was the hidden village of Suna, home of the Sand Ninjas. Things hadn't been going well for their village they were still rebuilding their forces after the failed invasion plan with the Sound Village. But it wasn't totally their fault as their Kage had been in reality Orochimaru, the body of their real Kage had finally been found and the funeral had been held for him and their fallen ninjas. The village mourned the losses that had been suffered and also shamed at how they had been manipulated.

In the center of the village in the largest of structures the council elders were in a meeting discussing the future of the village. In a large room with statues of all the past leaders against one wall, there was a long table with all the leaders of the village. They were discussing candidates for who the future Kage would be, how to deal with such a loss of man power as well. They were in for some rough times as they had to keep up appearances that they weren't as weakened as they were. Another village might take advantage of that weakness and like all villages they needed the income from the people who hired them.

Those who paid well went to the villages with the most strength, and a weak village didn't get as much business.

But there was another matter on the table and that was how to firmly cement their alliance back with Konoha. They had been allies and had betrayed them. That was something that wouldn't be forgotten easily and they needed to make up for it and prove their commitment to the new alliance. They already agreed that the Sound village would be a mutual enemy, but they felt something else was needed.

"We need to prove to them that we are committed to the Alliance," an elderly man in robes spoke. "The Leave village did suffer losses but even at two to one odds they still came out on top. Despite their own losses they are still stronger than our village and if they don't trust us and feel we are only buying time to rebuild..."

"They might think we're planning to attack them again," another member said sombrely. "After our attack on them I wouldn't be surprised if certain members are planning to attack us to wipe out a possible enemy or for revenge."

"I still find it hard to believe that they were able to repulse the attacks by two villages," one member said.

"Give it a rest," said an annoyed elder, "We were led to believe they were weak and we were proven wrong. So now we have to think of a way to make a solid alliance with them."

"Yes, although they are now currently in the same state as we are in looking for a new leader." A man said looking at reports on the matter. "Apparently they went Jiraiya to look for his old teammate, Tsunade."

"She would be a perfect choice, although I thought she left the village not wanting to return?"

"If she does return then Konoha will have a powerful leader, she's related to the first two Hokages and is a legend herself. With her as a leader their village will soon start to rebuild itself and we still haven't agreed on a new Kazekage. When did he depart to look for Tsunade?" One asked his fellow council member with the reports.

"It says that he was spotted outside the village...that's odd. Apparently he's taken in a young genin with him. The reports weren't clear but from what our sources have sated it appears that he's taken on a new apprentice." The man looked through his reports for a name for the boy. "Apparently it's someone named Naruto..."

"Wait, did you say Naruto?" another member said as he suddenly went looking through several sheets of paper he had in front of him. "Is it a Naruto Uzumaki?"

The man blinked and looked at the report he had, "Yes that's his name."

"He was the one that defeated Gaara," he told them all and they all looked shocked at the revelation.

"Are you sure?" someone asked.

"The report was by Temari herself as she was a witness," the man said looking at the report in question. "From her accounts when the Uchiha couldn't damage Gaara the Uzumaki boy use what was referred to only as 'a unique move' to cause a lot of damaged him with an exploding kunai. Then somehow made, by her accounts created 'more clones than she could count' but she estimated something close to a thousand shadow clones."

"A thousand!? No one can make that many!" A few other mummers agreed to that.

"While that is highly unlikely," the man said who had been reading the report. "But the boy did somehow manage to beat Gaara, and it is listed on his official report that he does know the shadow clone technique. When first I heard I had a few people look into him. He's largely unknown, an orphan boy of unknown parentage. He was regarded highly by the Third Hokage for unknown reasons. He was said to be dead last of his class and yet he knows an advanced jonin move and was on a mission that went to A Class, which was also the mission that killed the Demon of the Mist himself."

That started many mummers among the council now, although what they didn't know the circumstances of that mission but what they did know was starting to painting a picture about Naruto.

"Do you think that the Leaf village is hiding his true power? I mean he has no real past and yet he's shown great promise, regarded by the late Hokage, defeated Gaara who I thought was impossible. And now it seems that Jiraiya himself has taken him under his wing too?" A man spoke up.

"This boy seems ordinary and yet there are all these things that make no sense," he added as the others started to think about this.

"The boy is obviously a hidden ace for their village," one member said after thinking about all of this. "There is no way someone with this kind of school record that you mentioned could have done the things it says here. He comes out of the academy with an A class jutsu, can use it to make an unheard of number of clones, took out one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and defeated Gaara? His school record was obviously faked to throw everyone off."

"I agree the boy must be a genius. A natural talented ninja and with Jiraiya there's no telling how strong this boy will become. Hell his team sensei is Kakashi Hatake too it says here," One member said pointing to s piece of his copy of the reports. "If this boy is any indication he could be the next Yellow Flash."

"Aren't you being a little overdramatic?"

"Of course not!" He shouted back at him, "Think about all this and the fact that Jiraiya trained the Yellow Flash himself and Jiraiya was taught by their Third Hokage too. There's no telling what the boy will learn and if he's already this strong imagine what he'll be like as an adult?"

There was a silence there in the room at this, the thought of another ninja as powerful as the Yellow Flash in Konoha was a freighting thought. Even as allies the Yellow Flash was a named respected and feared by many ninjas who remembered that man. The fact that they could be seeing a return of a ninja of that skill would be dangerous. If Konoha ever decided that they weren't faithful to their alliance a war could be very devastating to them. Everyone remembered how brutally the Rock ninjas had been beaten in the last ninja war,

"It might not be so farfetched," the one that had read Temari's report on Gaara's defeat spoke up. "It said that the boy already could summon the toads, in fact she described the one of the ones she called 'the size of a small mountain. It was all red, had on a vest with scars on the body and carried a sword', there is only one toad I can think of that describes that."

He didn't have to say it, as everyone knew the chief of the toads just by his description. There weren't many toad summons that could even come close and it seemed even more likely that Jiraiya was now training a new protégé, a new ninja that could rival his last apprentice. If the boy had already signed the contract the boy was obviously already on his way there.

"This could be bad for us," one of the older members spoke up feeling his age at the moment. "If they have a secret weapon in the makings, one I might add that trumped our own weapon, we must prove the depths of our alliance with them now more than ever."

"How, we've already agreed to some restitutions to help them rebuild the damage to the village," a man to his left said.

He nodded his head to that point, "Yes but I do have an idea. It might kill two birds with one stone and even be beneficial to us if things can go perfectly down the years."

"What are you talking about?"

He continued on, "Simply, we put in for the Bonding Alliance contract with them."

Everyone remembered that old ritual, mainly when two villages or countries had been at war and one side lost there was a way to cement the peace. It mainly said that the loser would offer up a prodigious member of that group to marry into the victor's forces. It was a way to show commitment on both parts.

"That...might work," a member said thinking about it. "It hadn't been done in awhile but there is president for it. If we make an offer to the Konoha council they might accept but we need to ensure that they would. But who would we pick? It would have to be someone close to the boy's age but also someone upstanding of else the offer could not even be looked at."

Names were thrown out as to whom could it be but when someone actually suggested Temari herself that caused a bit of talk.

"I don't think we should give her up," someone said. "She's one of our most potential ninja, she's the eldest child of our late Kage himself. Plus if the boy is as powerful as we think he could be, then any children they would have would be just as strong if not stronger."

"Yes it would but that would entice their council to accept, that's why it's a good idea."

"No it isn't, we wanted to ensure a peace not give another village a family of powerful ninja!"

"Hear me out. First it would give them incentive to accept the offer and yes it would create that. But they would have family in Suna making it harder for them to fight against our village. And if they are that powerful they would most likely become even a Hokage at one point, if they had strong ties to our village we could rest easy."

That made the council think on matters, it would be true if it happened. Having a strong family of ninjas that has strong ties to their village would be something that could benefit them down the road. It was also offered that maybe one of their children could be married off to someone in their own village, that way whatever strong bloodline that would be produced could also be started in Suna as well. That was what sealed the deal for the council. Everything if it worked out would benefit their village, they would have a strong alliance with one of the strongest villages, and possible strong allies in the future and even future stronger ninjas for them down the road too. Preparations were made to send an official deal to Konoha as soon as possible.

**-Konoha council-**

A few days later the Konoha council was in session, since there was still no Hokage they needed to help run the village as best they could. They did have limited power though they couldn't institute policy or wage war or anything like that. They couldn't accept missions that were A or S rank and only certain B rank missions. But they did have to help with the rebuilding of the village and with relief efforts as well. At the moment three of the most influential members of the council were meeting with each other.

Two were an elderly male and woman both had been teammates to the late Third Hokage, the other however had been a thorn in the Third's side for years. He was a tall man in robes and bandages covering his face and walked with a cane. He was Danzo the 'war hawk' of the village as it was said. He was a more militaristic influence and even though he had no official office in the council anymore, many still listened to his council.

Homura Mitokado the old woman was currently sipping her tea as she watched Koharu Utatane read the letter that was to be sent to the council that afternoon from Suna. The old man's face was an emotionless mask as he read it carefully trying to read it to see if there was any hidden meaning in it. She had done it herself and she felt that even though the Suna council was being upfront they were still hoping for something to come of this. Danzo had already read it and was looking out a window lost in his own thoughts.

Homura finally let out a sigh and put it down.

"Your thoughts?" she asked him.

"It seems they want to establish stronger ties with us. After all they did violate the last treaty we had."

"Yes although they were manipulated into it by that traitor Orochimaru," she pointed out.

"Agreed, although many still hold resentment over them with all the losses. Also not one of them ever seemed to have spoken out against the plot as well which does not do them any favors." He paused for a moment thinking about what to say next. "Although this would help heal that rift and the person they offered for this deal is most surprising."

"I still can't believe they are offering up Temari," she agreed. "From all reports she's one of their strongest genin, I didn't expect them to offer someone like her."

"It must mean they are trying to show how serious they are taking this," he said to her and then frowned. "However I don't like that fact that they requested that only the ninja of their choosing would be given to her and none other. Now normally I expected something like this but who they chose..."

She didn't like it any better, "I know. Someone like a Hyuga or the last Uchiha I can understand or even someone from one of the other clans. But to choose that boy is insane. I can't see why they would want him."

Danzo turned around to face them, "I say we agree to it."

They were both shocked by this but he raised his good hand silence anything outburst against it. "Hear me out. If we accept it we gain a very powerful genin that could one day help us out much as her training continues. Also what if this is a trap? If there are members that are trying to send us a spy then would we want to argue who they want? If they did ask for someone like the Uchiha then I would be suspicious a bit more on their actions."

"Therefore I think they are honest about wanting to strengthen the new alliance with this show of loyalty. We should accept also because otherwise it would insult them and might sow some distrust with our views on the alliance. I know you both don't think much of the boy but if he's the one they want then who are we to argue the point? They obviously want the boy for a reason although for what reason I can't see at the moment."

"Could they know about the Kyuubi?" Junko asked.

Danzo shook his head, "I doubt it. The Third made it very hard for any outsider to know about it. And if they did I'm not sure if they would chose him anyway. I believe they might have chosen him for another reason."

"Perhaps it was because they chose him instead of one of the nobler clans as a way to prove that they weren't doing this just to marry into one of our clans?" Homura stated.

Danzo thought about that point, "that is a possibility. But I feel the union could be beneficial to us regardless. I know you feel the boy should never have been made a ninja. However I always felt the boy would have served us better as a weapon but I was outvoted from that. At any rate, their children could be very powerful ninjas in the future. A young ninja like her shows much promise and the boy's chakra is insane for his age, if that is passed on it could lead to a family of high chakra users with powerful justus."

"So you can't use the boy as a weapon you intend to breed him is that correct?" Junko said in mild disgust. She was never in favor of breeding programs but in the past they had been beneficial. Although she could think of better people then the Uzumaki boy.

"Yes," Danzo said simply. It wasn't uncommon for villages to breed new and stronger generations and if he couldn't use the boy as a weapon then he could ensure that their village could have stronger ninja in the future. If the children were 

strong enough they could be used as fine soldiers in future wars, it was just too bad that he might be a bit too old before they were ready.

"I do suggest that they have at least one child as soon as possible," he stated to them. "After all with children the marriage alliance is complete and if she is a traitor and a spy we can use her child as a hostage against her. If she's not a spy then it would make her more loyal to the village that's home to her child."

"They're a bit young aren't they?" She asked him.

Danzo nodded, "Yes so we won't make the demand right away but at some point they will need to produce a child."

The other two nodded in agreement, they wouldn't push for it right away but they would wait for a bit before they did. Danzo went back to looking out the window as his mind drifted to making some new plans for the Uzumaki children, if they were born with strong talents he would have to see if he could influence them in some way. He doubted he could do it in person but there were always other ways.

**-On the road-**

Walking on one of the many roads within the Fire Country was a tall man with long white spiky hair, he was in a red vest and had two painted lines on his face. Next to him was his young new apprentice clad in an orange and blue outfit. Naruto was walking along trying to get the next stage of the rasengan, he had already finished the first step with the water balloons and he could break the rubber ones slightly but Jiraiya said he wanted him to totally break the rubber balls and not just make a small hole in them.

He was just about it get it too when he sneezed again.

"Kid, are you coming down with a cold or something? You've been sneezing like crazy for the past few days." The older man asked Naruto.

"I don't know, I've never been sick before in my life. Anyway, where is this team mate of yours?"

"She should be in the next village," he told his young student. At least he hoped she was in the next village, so far all his leads pointed to here but she had a way of running out of town once the money she owed from gambling became a bit much. At any rate he was proud of the kid's progress he was taking to it better than he had not that he would tell the kid that. He had an ego enough as it was.

He looked at the golden haired boy and just looking at him he could see Minato in everything and his mother's personality as well. He knew that the boy's parents would be proud of him and how he overcame everything to get where he was. He just wished he could have raised the boy but he was on the road all the time with his spy network and he couldn't have done it. He should have came back more to check up on the boy but he had thought the Third would know best.

He sighed to himself at how wrong that was, true he knew that his sensei did the best that he could under the circumstances but still he could have at least found a family for the boy. Jiraiya knew full well how lonely life could get but then he was a hermit by choice. But he pushed those thoughts away, he didn't need them especially not when he was going to see Tsunade as well although how he was going to talk her into the job he had no idea. She was a very stubborn woman but that was one of the reasons he brought Naruto along.

He was just as stubborn as she was and the kid had a way with people. If anyone could get her to take the job it was the blonde knucklehead there.

**-Suna-**

"I'm to be what!?"

The female yell was heard clear halfway across Suna, inside a large building that was home to the late Kage in a small audience chamber there was Kankuro in his usual all black outfit only the hood was down and his brown hair was free although he still had on his purple face paint. Next to him was his younger brother Gaara, he cast a look to younger brother. The red headed boy was stonic as ever but ever since that fight with the blonde haired boy he had changed. He wasn't ready to kill at the drop of a hat, in fact the usual terror people normally felt around him was greatly diminished.

He just couldn't figure out what happened in that fight, sure it was the first and only time Gaara had been defeated but there had to be something more to it. Gaara had for years been unstable and now he seemed to be calm and yet controlled. He wasn't sure what was more creepy the old monster Gaara that would kill you if he suddenly felt like it, or this new calm and collect Gaara that you didn't know what was going on in his head these days.

He sighed and decided to enjoy the show for the moment before he missed it.

They had all been called into the room by their jonin sensei Baki. The man looked a little nervous about something which was odd since the man was hardly the nervous type. Although it soon became known to him why he was nervous, apparently the council had entered into an agreement with the Leaf village. Something about an arranged marriage to smooth things over, he could see why they would want that. Despite being outnumbered the Leaf village had won and were in better shape than they were from what he heard.

His older sister Temari had asked what this had to do with them.

Well Baki had told her that she was the one that the council had put forth for the arrange marriage. That was when the yelling started and he had to snicker, the only thing that came close to Gaara's temperament was his older sister's. The tall blonde haired woman looked like she wanted to reach for her large battle fan on her back and wanted to use it on the adult.

"Temari, this is an order by the council and I had nothing to do with it. I was just to tell you of what is going on and to help prepare you." He said trying to calm the young ninja down.

"So what I get no say in this!? Why the hell are they sending me anyway?" She demanded of their sensei.

"Because you are the eldest child of the late leader, so it's fitting that you are sent as a message that we are truly sorry for what we did. You're a symbol for the village that we mean peace."

Temari grounded her teeth as she fumed, she couldn't believe this was happening to her. Of course it made a bit of sense but still that didn't mean she had to like it.

"So I'm the sacrificial lamb is that it?"

"Not really, but you get the idea. Despite that we were tricked by Orochimaru we still all went against the peace treaty we had with their village. We were in the wrong and we need to repair our relationship with their village, since both of our forces are hurting it will take years to get back the strength we lost. In that time we both can't afford a war with each other as that would invite others to put a dagger into our backs when we aren't looking." He explained.

Temari thought about it, true there were a few major powers that would love to see either of them taken down. If Suna and Konoha fought a war even if there was a winner, that winner would be too weak to protect themselves. With two great powers weakened she could easily see smaller nations wanted to expand their boarders and power, and the larger nations to wipe out a couple of rivals in the deal as well. It would mean all out war all over and in the end only her village and that of the Leaf would be destroyed.

She gripped the top of a chair thinking about all of this, she was a Kage's daughter and as such had been trained in diplomacy and to think in the big picture. She could see the logic in what the council did but she loved this village, her youngest brother was slowly regaining his humanity and she never felt closer to him. She didn't want to leave her home and her family behind. She looked at her two younger brothers, they were the only family she had left in the world but if a war started then how could she live with herself knowing that she could have stopped it.

"I hate this," She whispered out to herself.

Baki sighed and walked over to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know but it's your duty to do this, this is the greatest mission that you'll uptake for this village, Temari. You know full well that the life of a ninja is for the country and for the village. Our personal lives come second to them and at times we are asked to do things of great difficulty as well. "

Temari hung her head in defeat, "Who is it that I'll marry?"

"Don't know yet, we have to hear back from Konoha first. In the mean time we're to get you ready, study up on the Leaf village and any customs that you'll need to know."

Temari let out a long sigh and felt a hand on her shoulder she looked surprised to see that it was Gaara. Although his face was void of emotion there seemed to be a hint of something in his eyes.

"If he hurts you I'll kill him." He said simply.

Normally that wouldn't be anything new but there was a difference. Gaara killed only for himself and never for other people, he was basically telling her in his own way that he would be looking out for her. That if whoever she was marrying hurt her that he would be there to protect her and help her. She never had known Gaara to offer anything like that before and she was strangely touched by it.

She actually smiled at him and for a moment Gaara seemed to be pleased, she wasn't sure how she knew but she just did.

"Thank you Gaara."

"Yeah well you're our big sister what do you expect," Kankuro said smiling at her.

Gaara nodded, "Family is important, you are important and I will not let anyone harm those precious to me."

Temari couldn't speak she didn't trust herself not to choke at his words. Gaara had never said that they were precious to him. She had no idea what had changed her baby brother but for the first time in years she had her youngest brother back. To the surprise of everyone she hugged the younger boy to her.

Gaara was shocked by the gesture and he was trying to make sense of the feelings he was getting. The warm embrace of his sister reminded him of when he was in his sand but this was different. This was warm and he felt something nice growing inside of him. He wasn't sure what to do but something told him to hug her back, so very gently he reached up with his arms and wrapped them around his big sister. He couldn't remember if he was ever hugged in his life and it felt nice for some reason. He was still getting used to all the new emotions and feelings, for so long he lived for only himself and loved only himself.

But Naruto had shown him where real power came from, the boy was like him in so many ways and yet he hadn't turned into a monster. He had beaten back the darkness and had shown Gaara that he didn't have to live in darkness himself. Gaara was forever thankful for Naruto to opening his eyes to a new world and right now he suddenly started to understand where Naruto got his true power. The feelings he had with his sister hugging him made him want to protect her and Kankuro, he would do anything to protect them and it felt nicer than anything in the past.

Baki watched on as the two siblings were hugging, he had a small smile on his face at the sight. Whatever happened to change Gaara had also healed the rift in this family. He hated that they had to take Temari away from it, but duty came first. But he would ensure that they could visit whenever they could and also have enough time together before she left as well.

**Next up chapter 2: Wedding News**

**Also for all those that are new to me, spelling/grammar is something I struggle with I'm not horrible and I've improved but unless you can help don't just say 'need work on spelling/grammar' without actually saying what needs work. I'm not a mind reader. Anyways this story is M rate for safety as it may or may not have some more adult content later on. That will be up to you how much you want to see in this. **


	2. Wedding News

**Update: I was told I had the wrong names for the characters and after looking it up I found out they were right so I changed the names of the two council members to be correct.**

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 2: Wedding News**

**-Konoha front gate-**

"Finally we're back!" Naruto shouted out happily. It had taken time but he and the old pervert of a teacher finally found Tsunade. Of course it hadn't been easy, they got into a fight when the old women (although he still didn't get why she hide her true age under the illusion of someone that looked to be in their mid twenties) started to bad mouth the Hokages. To Naruto that was unforgivable, especially since the death of the Third still hurt him deeply, the old man had been like a grandfather to him and his death hit him hard. Well the fight had been pretty much one sided until he tried the rasengan. It hadn't been complete but it was enough to get her to make a bet with him that he couldn't master it in a week.

Well after all the training he finally got it and just in time, since Orochimaru had found her to fix his arms and he found out that Kabuto, a fellow Leaf ninja he met in the chunin exams had been a spy for Orochimaru all along. While Jiraiya fought Orochimaru he fought to save Tsunade from Kabuto and used a finished rasengan for the first time. Although he blacked out from something Kabuto had done when he woke up he had her necklace and was told they beat back Orochimaru. So then they started on home, and there he was with Jiraiya, Tsunade and her apprentice Shizune holding Tsunade's pet pig Tonton.

"Come on, you promised to heal Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto told her dragging her through the gates.

"Alright just hold your horses," She told him as the blond buxom women walked through the gates. She never thought she would be back here, let along take on the leadership role of the village but the kid opened her eyes. She smiled looking down at the blond haired boy, he reminded her so much of her little brother and his love of the village was like how her lover Dan had loved the village.

Looking over the village she had to admit, nothing much had changed on the surface. But in a strange way it actually felt a bit nice coming back, it was nicer than she had thought it would feel. She looked up at the mountain with the faces of her grandfather, granduncle, and her sensei up there with the Fourth's face too. She smiled looking at the familiar faces and strangely enough she actually felt like she was coming home. For so long her own bitterness at the losses of two important people in her life had obscured her view of the village and now with it gone she could see the reasons why they had loved this village.

"Oh come on, Ero-sennin can't you get Baachan to move it?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto she has to take up the job of Hokage first, and at least let her settling in for a bit. Why don't you drop all your stuff at your place and meet us at the Hokage's tower when you're done?" Jiraiya said and then thought about it and gave him a little money back. "Here get some ramen while you're here too."

Naruto's face lightened up immediately, "Thanks Ero-sennin!"

"Stop calling me that brat!" He shouted at him.

"How about Pervy Sage then?"

"That's basically the same thing!"

Naruto gave him that fox like grin as he ran off to get ramen and then drop his stuff off at his place. Jiraiya muttered about the lack of respect in the youth of today. Tsunade smirked as she watched the two of them, they were quite the pair and she could tell that he really liked the boy. She remembered when he swore he never wanted to take on another student after the Minato had died against the Kyuubi, but it seemed that Naruto had won him over.

"Jiraiya there's something I've been meaning to ask about Naruto, his last name is Uzumaki right? Is he related to Kushina?" She asked him as they all walked on.

Jiraiya nodded his head, "Yes, he's their son."

Tsunade nodded her head in understanding but Shizune looked confused.

"Excuse me but what are you two talking about? Do you know who Naruto-kun's parents are?" she asked her mentor.

"Sorry but that's a triple S secret," Jiraiya said. "He can't know who his family is until he's old enough to defend himself. All I can say is that his father has made a lot of enemies and they would love nothing more than to kill his son since the man himself it dead. His mother died in childbirth so as far as I know he has no other family."

"So...he doesn't know at all?" she asked sadly.

He nodded solemnly, "I don't like it either. But the boy must be protected and besides the kid would blab it to the mountains if he found out. He needs to mature a bit more but I will say this, he would have made his parents proud. I mean damn, he did the rasengan in a month. The kid's got loads of untapped talent that should be brought out."

Tsunade smirked as they walked up to the main building with the kanji of 'fire' on it. She ignored the gasps and points of surprise at her return. She and the others climbed the stairs as they found themselves in the Hokage's office or her office now. She never thought that she would be the one to take up the job and she wished it was at least under better circumstances. The death of their sensei wasn't something you took easily, on the outside it would appear that she and Jiraiya were strong but on the inside she knew that both of them were hurting. The old pervert was like a father figure to them and it was their 'team mate' Orochimaru who had killed him. It was yet another betrayal in a long list of betrayals that man had done to them and the village.

As they entered the office she had memories of her sensei sitting behind that desk in his robes smoking doing the usual paperwork. She gave a small smile as she walked towards it and ran a hand over the surface of the desk, it had been made by her grandfather when he became Hokage and she found it odd how a piece of furniture had so much history tied to it. She thought she could still faintly smell a bit of the smoke in the room from his pipe. She felt a hand on her shoulder and knew it was Jiraiya, he remained silent just letting her know that he knew what she was thinking and feeling.

It always amazed her at the times that he could actually act his age.

The moment was shattered however when there was a knock on the door and two people walked in. Tsunade and Jiraiya knew them as the Third's old team mates Homura and Koharu, who were also at least two members who sat on the council. Apparently word got around fast as the two members came in to meet her.

"I'm glad that we were able to find you so soon, Tsunade-sama." Homura said.

"Yes, we are all glad that Jiraiya was able to find you and bring you back home." Koharu stated.

Tsunade sighed as she sat behind the desk, "Yes well it seems I'll have my work cut out for me, have to rebuild the village, familiarize myself with the current shinobi roster and such."

"Actually there is one pressing detail that I think you should know about that happened while you were traveling," Homura said as he handed her a piece of paper. It was the official agreement with Suna for the arranged marriage between Naruto and Temari of Suna. Tsunade however didn't know that before she took the document and started to read it and when her expression went from bored to a look of anger both Shizune and Jiraiya were wondering what was going on.

Tsunade looked at the agreement in her hands, "What the hell is this!"

"Tsunade-sama," Homura said calmly, "it's obvious what it is. It's an arrange married between one of our genin and one of theirs to seal the bonds of the newly restored alliance we have with Suna."

"The council has agreed to this!?" She couldn't believe that they had gone and done this. Sure it happened now and then but so soon and between two people so young. She never was a fan of this old custom and she had hoped that she had seen the last of this damn thing.

"Yes it has," Koharu told her plainly. "Since we had no Hokage at the moment we felt we needed to agree to this. After all given the tense feelings on both sides from the losses of loved ones can you blame us for trying to assure the new peace lasts?"

Tsunade could feel her temper rising, she knew that they set this up in a way that she couldn't step in. If she did it could be a political disaster and the last thing she needed was for her first moment in office was to cause political strife with Suna so soon after repairing their alliance. She looked to Jiraiya for help.

Jiraiya had remained silent through this as he had looked through the agreement before passing it off to Shizune. With one of his rare serious expressions on his face he had been thinking about what had happened while he was gone. He never liked it when people were used as pawns for the games of politicians, at least when it was for the survival of the village or for the land of fire it was a shinobi's duty to protect them but this just didn't sit well with him either. He also had been thinking hard on the matter and is just seemed that there was no way to get Naruto out of this. If they did it would be a slap in the face of Suna, but if he couldn't get him out of it then the least he could do is to at least improve the deal.

"I think since the deal is already made we can't do anything..."

Tsunade shot him a glare feeling like he had let her down.

"However," Jiraiya said, "I think that if Naruto is going to marry against his will to someone he hardly knows and at such a young age the village in the spirit of political matters should ensure that Suna isn't insulted after the wedding."

"What do you mean?" Koharu asked wondering like everyone else what he was up to.

"I've been to Naruto's place, as an orphan he has little and with a wife and I'm guessing eventually children at one point there is no way the two of them could live properly given Temari's station in Suna. She's an influential political figure you think when she tells her brothers that she's living in a cramp apartment that the Suna council will think we just took their prize genin and shoved her into a closet? That would piss me off that's for sure."

Tsunade got a smirk on her face as she caught on to what he was doing. She looked to see the two old people hadn't thought about that. It was true that Temari being the daughter of the late Kage and she was deserving of a decent place and way of life. She walked to her desk and sat down in the chair as she folded her hands and looked hard at the two members of the council.

"You know that's right, I don't think Suna would take kindly to her treatment by allies," she said to them.

"Then what do you suggest?" Homura asked the blond woman.

"Well given this is for a political alliance and everything that goes with it...both Naruto and Temari will need to be given a slightly higher pay grade than normal at least until they reach chunin and can handle things on their own. After all the Third helped Naruto out but this is something much different and so they both need the help of the village or you know what could happen."

"Anything else," the old woman asked a little tense.

"Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked almost off handedly .

"I think a new place to live would be another way to go," he said as if he was thinking hard on the subject. "After all she could be a permanent representative for Suna here even if I suspect she'll be made into a Leaf ninja. I'm not saying give them a palace but with all the ruined buildings I'm sure the council can divert some funds to fixing up a house for them to use. Maybe even hiring some of the genin to help and of course a few things to go with it but in comparison for keeping the peace it's really a small price."

Tsunade grinned at the two members of the council, "He has a point, if we want this alliance to work we better make sure that as I'm sure the council will want to ensure that things go well with Suna. After all I would hate for them to find out early just what kind of living conditions will be giving the young lady when she arrives."

The two elders knew the hidden threat in her words, if they didn't do this she would basically inform the Suna council and they would not be pleased. They could in fact call off the entire thing and that would cause a political nightmare. Tsunade grinned as she could see them thinking it over, she really gave them no real choice in the matter and everyone knew it. She might not be able to get Naruto out of this but she could at least make his life better for it.

"Very well, we will ensure that the council approves of this action," The old man said, "It is in the best interests of the alliance after all."

**-Konoha Hospital-**

Sakura Haruno was walking to Sasuke's room again, she checked on him and Kakashi daily hoping that they would get better. With Naruto gone off she was left along and thankfully Ino kept her company whenever she could. She smiled at how they were slowly repairing their friendship after their match in the Chunin Exams. It was one of the few good things that came out of it. But she missed her team, she hated being alone as it only reminded her of how things had been for her as a young child. Without Ino there she might have ended up as just this lonely girl that people picked on with no confidence at all.

She winced at the memory of how her relationship with Ino had broken up over their mutual feelings for Sasuke. Although she still wanted Sasuke at least now her friendship with Ino was back on track. Now if only the boy would wake up. She sighed as she came to Sasuke's room but she was hearing voices behind the door, one was the loud voice of Naruto and she actually smiled a bit hearing it. Mainly because it meant one member of her team was finally back but the other voices she never heard before.

She opened the door and there stood Naruto but with him were two people she had never seen before. One was a woman in a grey dress with short brown hair that had an earthly beauty about her. The other was a woman that looked not much older (although she was in fact 50 years old) with blonde hair in pigtails, a green shirt.

Naruto looked at her and smiled brightly, "Hey, Sakura-chan guess who finally woke his emo-ass up?"

Sakura blinked a few times and took a few steps through the door as she saw around the women and there was Sasuke finally awake from his coma.

"Sasuke-kun!" The pink haired girl ran right over to the dark haired boy and hugged him.

Tsunade had to smile at the scene this was why she got into medicine seeing someone recovered and the reactions. Although it seemed not all the reactions were what she had hoped for. Naruto looked a little downcast, he was glad that the boy was okay but she could tell by looking on his face that he would have liked the girl to have hugged him like that. And the boy in the bed didn't even seem to notice the young girl was even there let alone hugging him.

'Too bad Naruto, looks like she has her eyes on someone else but you better get over it fast because I'm sorry to say you have no choice but to,' Tsunade thought to herself seeing the scene.

She let out a cough getting everyone's attention, "There's a meeting in my office tomorrow, I want you all to be there with the others at nine sharp."

"Okay baa-chan," Naruto smiled up at her.

She could feel the twitch in her eye at being called 'granny' again. She really wish the brat would stop calling her that.

As she and Shizune left, it was Sakura that looked to Naruto. "Naruto, who was that?"

"That's our new Hokage." Naruto smiled proudly at her.

"She's our new what?" Sakura asked shocked.

**-Hokage's Office-**

Tsunade had gathered up Naruto and all of his friends as well as their teammates, maybe doing it in private would have been better but this way she could deal with all of their reactions and they would have to be told anyway. She noticed that Sasuke looked better although Kakashi was sitting down still resting up. Everyone had been told that she was the new Hokage and there were various reactions, although a girl in a pink shirt and with her hair in two buns was looking at her with stars in her eyes for some reason. She glanced down at the profiles on her desk and saw the girl's name was Tenten from Gai's team. She wasn't sure how to start things off, how do you tell someone that they're to be used as a political tool and have to change their entire life?

She sighed as she had the official documents before her of everyone here as well as the marriage alliance.

"Everyone I have some important news that will be made public when I take up the mantel of Hokage officially tomorrow." Tsunade hated ceremonies and she wasn't looking forward to tomorrow, she couldn't even drink all that much because Shizune kept telling her that having the Hokage hung over on her own appointment ceremony wouldn't look good.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi was the one to ask in that usual lazy tone.

"There is going to be a political marriage agreement with Suna," Tsunade told them. "The Suna council and the Konoha council both agreed to this apparently before I was here. They seem to want to forge a stronger bond between the villages and two people have been assigned to be the ones to marry. One young lady from Suna is coming here to become a part of our village and to marry the one that the Suna council picked out."

"They're seriously going along with that old act?" Kurenai the genjustu master of the village asked.

Tsunade nodded her head, "Yes I never liked it either."

"So why are we here baa-chan?" Naruto asked with arms behind his head looking bored.

"Naruto show some respect, don't call her that!" Sakura said hitting him on the head. The boy face planted into the floor as Sakura apologized. Tsunade had to admit the girl could at least try to keep the boy controlled although she wished that Naruto would at least show some respect towards her.

"Anyways," Tsunade said ignoring it, "The reason why you are all here is because you all have certain missions for this upcoming event. A home was picked out for the couple that will need to be fixed up so you all will help out with this. Normally we would use professionals but they're too busy rebuilding the village."

"So we get stuck building a home?" Sasuke said not liking the idea. If they really wanted something that badly he could just buy one for them, he needed to train and not build some home for some political marriage.

"Well most of you," Tsunade said dreading this point, "You see Naruto and Kakashi won't be doing this."

"Huh? Why's that?" Naruto said rubbing the spot on his head that Sakura hit. Kakashi sat up straighter as many of the other jonins seemed to be catching on.

"Because Naruto...you're the one that Suna wanted to be married so you'll have to have Kakashi teach you certain protocols while the others are busy." Tsunade said.

The silence in the room was deafening, everyone looked at Naruto who looked like he was frozen in place. He blinked several times as thought he didn't believe what she had just said and no one could really fault him for it. Tsunade was waiting for the explosion that would erupt pretty soon. She didn't have to wait long.

"WHAT!?"

The yelled was heard all over the building and a bit outside of it too, everyone's ears were also ringing slightly from the loud ninja's voice.

"What do you mean I'm the one getting married!? I can't get married, I'm not old enough, I don't even know her, and...and well..." He cast a glace to Sakura his long time crush. Although he kept asking her out and she kept saying no to him, he had hoped that one day she would accept it. She hadn't been as mean as she used to after the whole chunin exams, she had even started to be nicer to him. But now he was being told that he was going to be married to some stranger?

"Naruto, when you became a ninja you officially became an adult in the eyes of the village," Tsunade told him simply. "Unlike normal civilians when you become a genin you are officially no longer a child under the law. As for the young woman you actually do know her I believe. She's Temari, the one that was on the Suna team that was at the exams."

Naruto thought about it, "You mean that blond girl with the big fan? Gaara's sister and the one that beat Tenten?"

At that mention Tenten's head hung down as she felt really depressed. Why did everyone have to bring up her match against Temari? Okay sure she hadn't even touched the older girl but it was just bad luck that she had been paired up against someone she had no skills against. She was a weapons user and the other girl had been a wind user and had blown all her weapons away. She also really didn't want her idol, Tsunade to hear about her embarrassing defeat.

"Well then...I won't do it!" he said crossing his arms.

Tsunade looked at him for a moment, "Everyone can you leave the two of us alone?"

As everyone filed out she got out from behind her desk and stood in front of Naruto, he was looking down at the ground and she felt sorry for the kid. But he had to grow up sometime and he had to realise that being a ninja meant sacrifices.

"Naruto I know this isn't fair but this is an important thing that you have to do for the village."

"But...I hardly know her, and what about Sakura-chan?" He asked her in a soft voice that didn't seem to fit him.

She sighed, "Naruto a ninja's life is about sacrifice and doing the greater good. You want to become Hokage one day right? Well when you're Hokage you have to realise that you'll have to make tough choices, you'll decide on who goes on missions and sometimes you'll be sending people out who you know will die. It's not always pretty and you can't save everyone but you have to understand. For the Hokage the village must come first, I tried to think of a way out of this but to do so would have caused a political incident."

"I'm sorry, Naruto I tried. The best that me and Jiraiya could come up with was to make your life a bit better with it."

"You mean like the new house?" he asked her. Although he liked his apartment it wasn't fit for more than just him really and living in a real house was something he never thought that he would be able to do.

"Plus a little pay rise but it was the only thing I could do. This was done before I got here and so I wasn't in the loop when it happened. Naruto you have to know that this is most likely the most important duty, the most important mission you could take up for the village. You could always say no but there will be consequences so I want you to understand that."

Naruto thought long and hard about it, sure he didn't want to do this but this was something important for the village as well. He never went back on his word and he always completed his missions. Naruto thought about what could happen if he didn't do this, although he wasn't sure what exactly would happen he guessed it wouldn't be good if this was really important.

"How much trouble would be caused if I didn't do this?"

"A lot, our relations with Suna could be damaged and it could really harm our alliance and given both our weakened states it wouldn't be good for either of us." She told him.

Naruto took a look out the window for the village, it was true that he loved the village more than anything. It was his home despite how most of the village had treated him in his life. This was his home and the Third Hokage, the first person to acknowledge him and show him kindness had died to protect this village. In that moment he knew that for a Hokage you had to do whatever it was for the village even to give your own life. If the old man could give his life then this wasn't as big a deal.

"Okay...I'll do it," He said softly.

Tsunade smiled down at the boy and placed a hand on his head, he looked up and gave her a small smile in return. She knew that this wouldn't be easy for him but maybe there was hope for it after all. He wouldn't be alone in life but she just hoped that the two of them could learn to like one another as being trapped in a loveless marriage wasn't something she wanted for him.

Meanwhile outside of her office the others were already talking about the big news.

"I can't believe that Naruto of all people is getting married," Ino whined, "I mean I don't want to marry just yet but still I never thought that the first of us to get married was him."

"Would you have preferred that they set you up with someone from Suna?" Shikamaru asked her resting against a wall.

"Yeah, what if you had been set up with someone like that Gaara guy?" Choji asked her.

"Don't even joke about that!" Ino yelled at them both. The thought of being married to that scary red headed boy from the exams would have been a nightmare. Not only would she had lost her chance at Sasuke but that Gaara guy was just really scary.

"Hey," Kiba said as he walked over to them with Shino in tow and Akamaru riding on the boy's head. "You guys seen Hinata anywhere? She looked kind of upset and we wanted to see what we could do to help."

"I haven't notice to be honest," Ino said looking around and not seeing the shy girl anywhere.

"Why not ask him?" Shikamaru pointed to Neji.

It stood to reason since he was Hinata's cousin plus with his eyes he could find her easily enough. Although both Kiba and Shino hadn't liked the guy for the longest time not after nearly killing Hinata in the chunin exams when they fought against each other but after Naruto had beaten him the guy had changed. Sure he was still uptight like most Hyuga but the malice in him was gone. He had even been nice to Hinata again and she had never been happier. They walked cautiously over to the older boy who was with his team.

"Hey you," Kiba said to him earning a glare from the Hyuga prodigy.

"Yes?"

"You know where Hinata ran off to? She was upset and we can't find her." Kiba said.

"What happened to get her upset?" Tenten asked them both.

"We are uncertain that is why we are searching for her," Shino said in that usual monotone voice of his.

Neji closed his eyes as he activated his eyes, the veins on the side of his face enlarged as his eyes looked more strained. He could see all around him, and through anything. He started his scan within the building and then moved outside of it. They waited for him to finish and after a few seconds he deactivated it.

"Well?" Kiba asked him.

"She's in good hands, don't worry about it." Neji told them simply.

Outside the building Hinata was on the ground hidden from view as she was crying. When the new Hokage told them that Naruto was being forced into a marriage she felt her young heart break. For years she had liked Naruto, he was everything that she wanted to be and he never gave up. When she had been fighting, Neji it had been him to cheer her on, it was him that gave her the strength to get stronger and to improve herself. He had given her the old Neji back that she had missed for years. Every time she tried to say something to him she stumbled over her words, just once she wanted to tell him how she felt.

But she had waited too long and now it looked like she would never have her chance with him. She silently cried her heart out until she felt a familiar arm around her. She jumped and looked up into the face of Kurenai, her sensei and who was like a mother figure to her after she had lost her own mother at an early age.

Kurenai had known about the young girl's crush, she had suspected something for a while but it wasn't until that moment when she had seen Naruto cheer on her student and how she reacted to him did she finally figure it out. But when that announcement had been made she had kept an eye on the young girl. She had seen how she had been controlling herself from crying right then and there. Hinata had left the room as quickly as she could and she had followed knowing the girl needed comfort.

She put an arm around the small girl as she hugged herself to Kurenai's chest.

"I'm sorry Hinata," she said softly to her.

"I-it's n-not f-f-fair," she cried into the woman.

"I know it's not, life sometimes isn't fair," she told her gently stroking her short hair. She wished this didn't have to happen to her and she also wasn't sure how Naruto would think on it either. It just seemed that the happiness of two young people had just been crushed for the sake of politics. Losing your first crush wasn't easy, she remembered her own first crush and how he had just dumped her after a few months. She had been very depressed for awhile until she got over it, but she was stronger for it and Kurenai only hoped that Hinata would eventually get over this as well.

**Next up chapter 3: Preparations**

**Sorry for the wait, had a shoulder injury to get over and the chapter got a bit longer than normal.**


	3. Preparations

**Update: I was told I had the wrong names for two of the characters and after looking it up I found out they were right so I changed the names of the two council members to be correct.**

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 3: Preparations**

It had been a few days and already, Temari was starting to feel the strain. The council hadn't told her who she was marrying just yet as they wanted to get confirmation from Konoha that the new Hokage was appraised and her 'fiancé' as well. After that and there were no problems a message would be sent, and then she would be on her way to the Leaf Village. A part of her hoped that this fell through so she didn't have to go through with it, but she knew what was riding on it as well. So for the past week she had been looking up and reading all about the village and those important in it. When she had gone off to the chunin exams her team had been given some of this before but now it was more in-depth.

She had already read up on the clans and now she knew more about some of them then she needed to know. She was bored out of her mind and leaning all this about customs, political figures and other such things that she didn't want to think about anymore. Normally she went out to trail to blow off steam but after she had went a little overboard Baki had ordered her not to train for the next few days. So now she was bored and itching to destroy something with her fan.

She let out a frustrated groan as she put the scrolls aside and went out of her room. She went into the living room that she shared with her family, there was Kankuro sitting on the ground working on a new puppet by the looks of it. There were tools and parts all over the small mat he was working on. She hated how messy he got the place when he did this, and the worse thing was that he had his own little workshop for this kind of thing as well.

"How many times have I told you not to do that in here?" Temari snapped at her.

"Lost count," he muttered as he finished screwing something together. "Besides we were just waiting for you to get out."

"We?"

He jerked his thumb to the side and through the large door she could see, Gaara standing out a balcony looking over the village. It was something new he had started to do lately, it puzzled them both as Gaara never really showed much interest in the village before but now it was like he was studying it. It was just one more of his odd behaviour that he had started to do ever since after they had picked him up off the ground nearly dead with his fight with that blonde genin of the Leaf.

Although it was nice to see this change in him, he was calmer and even a bit nicer now. She had asked him what had gotten into him a few days ago and all he said was that he had been shown a new way and a better way to be stronger. He didn't elaborate and it just left her even more confused what was going on in the head of her baby brother.

"So why were you waiting for me anyway?" Temari demanded of her other brother.

"We were told that the Hokage has sent us a replay and that the whole...uh...well you know, it's still on." He said a bit nervous. She was touchy if he used words like marriage so he avoided them. It was fun to watch her mad at others but not when she was furious at you. For a moment she actually pitied the poor bastard that got stuck with her given how much she hated this whole affair. But he was a ninja and he knew that this was a duty that they couldn't get out of, that didn't mean he liked it. They were a team after all and they were also a family, sure on the outside he didn't let it show that it bothered him but he wasn't very good at his feelings anyway. Plus they were more than a team they were a family and he didn't want it to be broken up.

That's another reason why he was toying with his new puppet, it helped to calm him.

"Do you know who it is?" Temari asked him. She had been dreading who it was she was being made to marry for awhile now. She guessed it wouldn't be too bad if it was at least someone their own age group, most likely one of the ones from the chunin exams from her reasoning. They were the strongest members and there was no way her own council would marry her off to some weakling. So for the past week as she was studying up on the village that would become her new home, she was trying to figure out who it was she was marrying.

There was the Uchiha boy he was handsome and strong although his personality didn't really seem all that great. That was the reason after her fist encounter she didn't take much notice of him that kind of arrogance got old fast. There was also the fact that her brother had his sights on him and she knew that he wasn't going to live for very long anyway, at least until he was saved by his teammate.

There was also the Hyuga boy she saw fight, he seemed very strong as well although he too had been defeated by that same boy that had beaten Gaara.

Another possibility was that boy she had fought herself, she would admit that it still pissed her off that throughout the entire match he had been actually one step ahead of her and she hadn't seen it until the end. She was supposed to be a great tactician but he just played with her. And when he had her beat what does he do? He gives up! Although she had officially won she took it as a loss no matter what anyone said.

"Yeah...uh...he told us who it was alright," he trailed off not sure how she would take it.

"Well who it is?" Temari demanded.

"It's that Naruto kid, you know the one that beat Gaara," Kankuro finally said. Although he hadn't seen the battle he heard the story and had seen the shape, Gaara had been in. He had never seen his little brother in that kind of shape before and anyone that could do that to him was scary.

Temari was thinking the same thing she had seen that insane battle. She had never seen a battle on such an epic scale like that before and truth be told she was actually a little scared of the little blond genin. He had done the impossible at every single battle, he kept beating opponents that he shouldn't have been able to, he acted like a goof and an idiot but during those battles she had seen something else in him. When he got serious it was like he was another person, she couldn't remembering seeing his eyes but his whole body spoke volumes.

And now she was going to marry him, she wasn't sure what to think at the moment. The boy was too much of a mystery to her and the fact that he was stronger than he let on was another thing. She had to sit down at the moment as she was thinking about her future husband was going to be. He came off as such a loud mouth idiot but given what she saw was it just all an act? She looked to see that Kankuro was a bit at odds with it as well as he too didn't know what to think of the boy that defeated their once murderous little brother.

"I approve." Came a slightly gravely voice and everyone turned surprised to see Gaara was now in the doorway looking at them with that neutral expression of his.

"W-what!?" Temari asked him.

"He's a good choice," Gaara said in the same dead tone.

"B-but...after what he did?" Temari asked him. She honestly didn't get this at all of all of them Gaara shouldn't even like the boy after defeating him. But he had been a changed man after the event but still to just actually accept this didn't make any sense.

"Gaara?" Her older brother asked the younger.

"He's a good person," Gaara simply said and turned back to stare out at the village again leaving his family just as confused as they had been without anymore explanation.

Temari just never understood her youngest brother and now she was even more confused than ever. What could he mean that, Naruto was a 'good person'? Just a short time ago he was a murderous monster and now he was all of a sudden saying and doing things that constantly surprised and confounded her. And he approved? That didn't exactly go well with her did that mean that Naruto was even worse monster than he was?

No, that didn't make any sense at all.

"At any rate, Temari with this final confirmation you should start packing. You'll be leaving for the village soon," Baki told her.

She sighed as she slumped down a bit she cast a look to her family. Who knew when the next time she would see them, well the wedding of course but after that she wouldn't see them all the time. She got up and headed for the door if her time was limited in this village then she was going to go for a walk. She wanted to have some memories of her home before she left and to have one last good look around her home. The next time she saw it, who knows how much will change when she next visited anyway.

**-Konoha-**

Naruto never liked school it was very boring at times although Iruka had made it kind of nice, that is when he didn't get into those boring lectures. So now Naruto was feeling he was right back in school as he was sitting at his kitchen table looking over his books he felt like he'd rather do what Shikamaru did and fall asleep.

"Naruto are you paying attention?" Kakashi asked him across from him. The man was leaning back looking lazy as he had been teaching Naruto all the things he would need to know. So far it hadn't be going very well, Naruto was always restless and it took, Kakashi a few days on how to actually teach Naruto this kind of stuff. After getting some tips from, Iruka he had made some progress but still the boy was having troubles.

"Oh come on, Kakashi-sensei this is boring. Why do I have to learn all this stuff anyway?" He moaned.

Kakashi sighed as this wasn't the first time he had to go through this, "Okay well first it's good to get to know where Temari is coming from for a deeper understanding of her culture. I mean what if there is something that's offensive to her culture but isn't to ours? You really don't want to piss her off for the wrong reasons right?"

Naruto thought about all the times he had accidentally pissed off, Sakura and Temari was just as scary. Plus she had that huge metal fan as well and he suddenly got a mental image of an angry Temari slamming her huge fan onto his head. Naruto broke out of the daydream with a shiver.

"Now then you should also familiarize yourself with certain diplomatic things as well."

"Well the first part I get but why that?" Naruto asked him.

"Naruto this is going to be a major political marriage which means that you two will eventually have to meet and great with several of the clans and members of the council in official functions. As she's also a representative of Suna, she'll be most likely be used as a link to her village for official means. So that also means that you'll be going with her to Suna at times on official business and you need to know this so you don't make any major political embarrassments."

Although he knew that would be a miracle as Naruto always seemed to have a way of getting into trouble even when he didn't mean it at times.

"Oh man," Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto you want to be Hokage one day right?" Kakashi asked him knowing this would get his attention. "Well a Hokage also knows about this, all this political stuff are things that you'll have to deal with all the time. A Hokage runs the village and had to make a lot of decisions like with Tsunade-sama's with this whole affair."

Naruto looked at the books and sighed he really did want to become Hokage and he never thought that he would need to learn all this stuff. He just thought a Hokage did paperwork and protected the village like all the Hokages before had done.

"Think of it as training then to be a Hokage," Kakashi gave him that usual 'eye-smile' of his.

With that Naruto perked up as he grinned at his teacher, "Well why didn't you say that to start with? Let's get this training underway!"

Kakashi only chuckled as he started to teach Naruto more of the history of Suna. Later he would get him up to date on the tea ceremony, proper manners, and later on he would give him a break for ramen to help him relax a bit. While he started to study Kakashi took the time to think on this whole affair. He didn't like the fact that Naruto would have to be put through this but he knew how things went in the ninja world, all things being said there were a lot worse duties that a ninja had to do. He had seen and done a few back in his time in ANBU, one of the reasons why he left it to be honest was that he didn't want to do those kinds of jobs anymore.

But Naruto was another matter, while looking at the blond he couldn't help but see his father. There were times he wished he could tell, Naruto about his parentage but he was under orders from the Third. He couldn't tell him no matter what until he was strong enough to defend himself and he wasn't. But he tried his best, the training and missions he had them do was a way to start off. It was obvious that Sasuke was more advanced but then again he had help when he was younger. Sakura he wasn't sure what to do about, she had great chakra control and would be great for genjustu but other then what he got from his sharingan to see through them he didn't now much unlike Kurenai.

Then there was, Naruto who always wanted to be trained and took to it with a dedication that he liked to see. If only he'd calm down and relaxed when he learned things it would come a bit more easier for him.

There were times when he felt putting his team in the chunin exams had been a mistake but they were a good team and it had brought out in them their inner strengths. He did wish he could have helped, Naruto more but honestly he didn't expect him to beat Neji, do good yes but he had wished he could have seen that win. But after he saw what happened to Lee he had to train Sasuke or the boy would have gotten killed and he owed too much to Obito to let the last of his clan die.

The teacher he had found was the only good one he could find, although he learned he found a better teacher it was a good thing too. Naruto was always full of surprises and he was wondering that maybe he should keep that in mind in the future. At any rate he was worried how Naruto would handle this, this was a major step and despite everything he wasn't exactly the most mature person. He only hoped that Naruto's ability to touch the hearts of people worked on Temari as well because he didn't want to see his student trapped in a loveless marriage.

Plus there was the problem with Sasuke as well, after that trip from the hospital he noticed that the boy had taken a few steps backwards in his social progress with his team. He was also worried about that seal on the boy as well, it seemed to be reacting stronger for him then it was with Anko who had been given on too. He was worried that Sasuke would seek out Orochimaru whish had been another reason why he had trained him in the chidori to show him that he didn't have to leave the village to gain strength. But after that meeting with his brother which he found out from Jiraiya while in the hospital, he noticed the change in the Uchiha boy.

As Kakashi continued training, Naruto he was a little worried for the future for all his students.

**-Across the Village-**

In a section of the village that was under repairs the genin teams were already hard at work fixing up the home to be used for Naruto and Temari. The home wasn't too bad although it was missing a whole side of it and the lawn had been town up pretty bad not to mention the brick wall around the property as well. The backyard was pretty most a write off as well but after a week things were looking better. Apparently one of the giant snake summons had gone through the area and the previous owner had been crushed under it. Finding the blood smears had upset a few of the kids but that was long gone now.

Currently they had fixed the missing pieces of the home, cleaned up the yard although there were some little improvements that still needed to be done it was largely finished. It had been a long week full of work and the genins were taking a much needed break.

"Man this has been a lot of work, still can't believe that Naruto is getting stuck with this whole deal," Kiba said as he lightly petted Akamaru sitting on his lap.

"Kiba, perhaps that is not a good topic for the moment," Shino said as he glanced over at Hinata. Kiba looked over and winced as the girl had been depressed all week long. They had been trying to cheer her up all week but without much success.

"Well I for one hope that, Temari can at least keep him in line," Sakura sighed as she sat down with a box lunch. "He could use someone in his life will make him more mature."

"Oh man don't start that," Shikamaru sighed as he walked over with his team. "My mom does nothing but nag me and my dad all the time, I wouldn't wish that on anyone although she did seem to be the bossy type of woman."

"That's not a nice thing to say!" Ino yelled at him.

"And I got two bossy women in my life as it is," Shikamaru sighed.

"What was that?" Ino said in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Well at least he's getting a nice home out of it," Tenten said as she was walking with Neji towards the group. "I mean that's in improvement isn't it, Sakura?"

Sakura had been to Naruto's apartment a few times, although she saw that he had a decent place with nearly a full top floor it was kind of lonely. She frowned a bit remembering how besides the messes he sometimes left there wasn't much other than the usual stuff. But then again it was just him living there so of course it was pretty simple living without much clutter that got accumulated from a family living in a home. She looked at the house and it was a nice place, not grand or anything but the type of place she might like to live if she could ever afford it but houses were expensive in the village.

"Yeah I think that he'd like this place," She said to them all. "I mean he's got no family and at least now he's not going to live alone anymore."

"Yeah but she's basically a stranger," Choji told them eating his large lunch. "I mean we barely know anything about her."

"Mainly all we know is what we saw in the chunin exams with her and her brother," Neji said thinking about the Sand Trio.

Sakura bit her lip as she thought about something else, "Hey how is, Lee doing? I haven't been able to visit him lately with all the work."

Tenten and Neji shared a concerned look before Tenten spoke up.

"He's doing okay...considering the doctors told him originally that he would never be a ninja again with his arm and leg so badly damaged. Then Tsunade-sama told him about all the bone fragments that are close to his spine."

Tenten and Neji were both told the full story by Gai who wanted his team to know just how serious the injuries were for Lee. Tenten felt sad that Lee would never be a ninja it was heartbreaking really when she heard the news given how much training and effort put into it. He was already at a disadvantage without being able to mold chakra enough to use ninjutsu or genjustu skills. But he put his heart and soul into training to show the world that you could be a ninja even if you were like him.

Neji himself had to admit that he actually missed, Lee a bit. True he and their sensei could be annoying but they were a team and it wasn't until just recently when he started to see just how much his team meant to him. After, Naruto had beaten him and showed him that fate could be changed, and reading the final words of his father given to him by his uncle, he had a lot of time to think on things. One of them was his treatment of his cousin, he had been wrong to blame her for the rift between the main branch and his branch. Looking at his cousin now he actually felt for her pain and he also had a lot of time to make up for all the years he had been clouded by his anger.

Another recently was that Lee was the closest thing to a best friend he had, not that he would ever admit that to anyone. But the boy kept pushing himself and the skills he saw in the chunin exams showed him just how far Lee had come in such a few years. He actually admired Lee's dedication and skills and how it seemed that, Lee would never be a ninja again and it actually made him angry at how cruel life was. He knew of course how cruel life could get but something like this just didn't sit well with him.

"So...he's never going to be a ninja again?" Sakura asked shocked to hear this. She felt so bad for Lee for the same reasons.

"Well...I heard that Tsunade-sama is working on it," Tenten hoped if anyone could heal, Lee it would be her idol.

"Yeah I heard that's one of the things that Naruto brought her back to the village to do," Shikamaru stated remembering a meeting with Naruto after he had been made a chunin. Hence why he was in charge of this little project while their jonin teachers were off doing who knew what. Naruto had been taking a break from his studies and they caught up a little before he had to go back for his lessons.

"Well then I hope, Lee gets better than," Sakura said.

At first she hadn't liked the boy but it was just another thing that had changed during the chunin exams, it seemed that moment had changed all their lives in some way or another. She had seen how hard Lee fought to not only save her but during that fight with Gaara. Suddenly something hit her as she looked at, Tenten and Neji.

"Hey are you two going to be okay with Temari? I mean after what her brother did to Lee and all plus she did beat you too Tenten." Sakura asked worried.

Neji crossed his arms with that usual unreadable expression on his face, "I may not like her or Gaara but she's being forced into this as well I would think. She's being forced to leave her village to one where she will most likely face hostility as I doubt many have forgotten or forgiven Suna."

Tenten sighed, "Okay so she beat me, I may not like it-or how everyone keeps talking about it!- but he makes some good points. She's going to have a hard enough time as it is and I can't blame her for what Gaara did."

Sakura still was scared of Gaara, she had seen him transforming into that monster until she had blacked out. She wasn't sure how to react around, Temari and she really hoped she didn't have to see, Gaara anytime soon.

'_She didn't choose this,'_ Hinata thought to herself. '_I've been so sad that I'll never get the chance to tell Naruto how I feel that I never thought about, Temari. She's being forced into this most likely and she'll be alone in a village that will most likely hate her.'_

'_It's not like she's stealing, Naruto or even had her sights on him. I don't remember her even looking at him all that much. I shouldn't blame her for things beyond her control either. I've been blaming her for this just like how most will blame her for how her village betrayed ours and attacked.'_

Although she was still hurting over this, it wasn't right to just ignore others. She knew that, Naruto didn't like the idea and who would? Although she would have secretly loved the idea of being arranged to marry, Naruto it just seemed like that dream was gone forever. But the thing she admired in, Naruto the most was getting right back up and keep on trying as he never gave up. Well she shouldn't give up either, she may never have, Naruto's feelings for her but she didn't want to ruin the friendship she had with him.

Yes she would hurt but she should be there for them as well.

"W-we should be nice to her then," Hinata said as she surprised everyone at that moment. "S-She's going to be all alone and both her and Naruto-kun will need support for this. W-we're his friends and this isn't easy for him either."

"Yeah guess you got a point there," Kiba said throwing his arms behind his head.

"Hey where is, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked looking around to see that he was the only genin not here.

"Well I asked if he wanted to join us but..." Sakura always asked him and every day he said no.

"Awww, why won't he join us?" Ino sighed.

"Because it's too troublesome for him," Shikamaru muttered. For the entire time the attitude of the Uchiha was getting on his nerves. It wasn't that he wasn't doing the work he was in fact it was just that the boy made it no secret that he would rather be training then doing this, even if it was for his own team mate.

Shikamaru was just glad this was nearly over with, a new coat of pain and a little maintenance work and it should be good to go, at least he hoped.

**-Two Days Later-**

Naruto Uzumaki had been having a nice dream about all you can eat ramen, he had been on his thirty-second bowl when one of the most evil creations in the world went off, his alarm clock. The hellish ringing woke him up with a start and a minor heart attack as he yelled out in surprise. While struggling with his blanket he got entangled and fell off his bed onto the floor. He sighed taking this as a sign that this wasn't going to be a good day.

"Hey wait wasn't there something I'm doing today?" Naruto muttered to himself. When he got up and looked around he saw that his place was cleaner than normal and lots of boxes.

"Oh right, I'm moving today," he sighed.

Apparently the new home was finished and he was to be moved in and get it ready for Temari as they would be using it. He sighed, although the idea of owning an actual house was really cool for him he would miss this place. Sure it wasn't much to look at but he had room, a small garden that he liked to take care of and no one really bothered him. It had been the only home he had known all his life that he could really remember but now he had to say goodbye to the place.

"Well one last meal," Naruto smiled as he did his usual normal rituals before going to the kitchen and making a cup of instant ramen. After he was done and did some final cleaning before he waited for the others to show up, they were to help move him in not that he really needed it as he could always make an army of shadow clones but he didn't know the way to his home anyway.

He waited around until there was a knock on his door, he opened it and smiled seeing his team mates there.

"Hey there, I'm all ready."

"That's good to hear," Kakashi said walking in and seeing everything was ready. "Ah good job packing up."

"So can we get this over with?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah I might as well move in, I want to get in some real training before, Temari comes." Naruto said excited to get this over with.

"Sure, sure," Kakashi said picking up a box. "Well now you two get something, Naruto you think you can handle the rest?"

"You know it!" Naruto grinned as he created a small army of shadow clones. He gathered up everything as they made their way to his new place. Naruto wanted to know if he missed anything so he went to Sakura to talk to, given that she was a girl and they liked to talk and of course Sasuke wouldn't talk much anyway. It was nice talking with her but he kind of missed being able to try and impress her and trying to get her to notice him in a way that she would agree to a date with him. He interlay sighed knowing that he would have to give up his feelings for the girl, it wasn't easy after all he liked her since they started school together.

"Hey Sakura-chan?" He asked suddenly cutting her off from her telling him about how the others were doing.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"Uh...okay what is it?"

Naruto was silent a moment looking at the ground at his feet, "Promise me that no matter what...that we'll still be friends and teammates."

Sakura blinked a few times at the question before she made a small smile, "Of course you baka, we'll always be friends and teammates no matter what."

Naruto gave one of his rare real smiles at that, it was nice to know that no matter what he could count on his friends.

They continued on and just when the shadow clones were starting to complain about all the stuff they had to carry they arrived. Naruto looked on at the place to him he couldn't believe he was living here. Sure it wasn't like the houses you find in the richer parts of town but to him the place was great. When he asked his sensei if this was the place and he was told it was he took off running through the gate. He couldn't believe if but he actually had a yard, he could train all he wanted now. In the back there was a larger one that could easily be made into a neat little training area too.

Then he went inside and although it was mostly bare as many of the furniture was lost in the damage what was left was more then he needed. He had his clones start setting things up as he started to explore his new home. There was a major bathroom on the second floor with a few empty rooms. One was a large bedroom that was mostly stocked up, he decided to give this room to Temari as he had his clones put his bedroom stuff in the room next which was a bit smaller.

There were two empty rooms on this floor that were part of the reconstruction so they had nothing in them. He wasn't sure what to do with them maybe they could turn one into a room where they kept all their ninja gear? He had never had so much space to work with so he was at a loss. There was a kitchen with a dining room next to it, there was also the large living room area, a couple more small empty rooms and a smaller bathroom. This only had a shower instead of a bathtub like the one upstairs.

"So what do you think?" Kakashi asked him coming up behind him.

"I think it will do for the future Hokage," Naruto grinned up at him as his teacher smiled back down ruffling his blonde hair.

**Next up chapter 4: Meeting the Bride to Be**


	4. Meeting the bride to be

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 4: Meeting the Bride to Be**

Temari was with Baki and her brothers as they were escorting her to Konoha, a part of her kept waking up every day on the trip here thinking that it had been all a dream what was happening. It just seemed so unreal to her but the closer she got to the village the more real it seemed. They stayed in inns on the way but each day and every step just seemed to fill her a little bit more of dread. In truth she loved being a Suna nin and she loved her village even given how it had treated her youngest brother and what had been done to him. But the fact was she was no longer going to proudly ware the Suna symbol around her neck but one of the Leaf.

She fingered the protector that she liked to wear around her neck another time knowing that soon she would never wear it proudly for the world to see.

"How are you holding up?" Kankuro asked her.

"The same," she replied as they walked on. "I just wish I knew a bit more about this guy, I mean was the whole loudmouth idiot thing some kind of act?"

He just shrugged, "Don't know but if it is it's a good one. Still don't see why Gaara liked the guy so much."

"Still couldn't get him to elaborate," she sighed as it was more of a statement then a question. No matter how much they tried they couldn't get him to say why exactly. It was almost like whatever happened between him and the blonde was private but then again Gaara also wasn't the most open person even before his new change of heart.

"Well looks like we're here," Baki said breaking Temari from her thoughts.

She sighed seeing the massive gates, when she first saw them she though them impressive. Now looking at them she realised she would be seeing them for the rest of her life as she left and returned to the village. She could see several people already waiting by the gates and guessed it was their welcoming committee. She tried to get ready for this but in all honesty how could you get ready for something like this? She just hoped that with time she could learn to accept her fate and deal with it.

By the massive gates to the village stood the Hokage, with Shizune, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and just joining them was Kakashi.

"Kakashi, where were you?" Tsunade demanded as the man was already late but that was nothing new with him.

"Sorry, I had to help a little girl find her cat," he chuckled and rubbing the back of his head.

"Lair!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at him.

"Now that isn't a nice thing to say to your sensei," Kakashi said to them.

"Well maybe if you showed up on time for once we would have more respect for you," Sakura said crossing her arms as Naruto was nodded his head in agreement. Then she turned to her orange clad team mate and sighed looking at him. "Seriously, Naruto couldn't you find something decent to wear? I mean you want to make a good impression don't you?"

"What's wrong with this? I always wear this," Naruto said looking down at the orange and blue jump suit.

"Don't you have anything that isn't so...orange?"

"I like orange!" he said in defence of his favourite color. He didn't know why but he just liked his suits because they had so much of his favourite color plus they were durable, warm and had lots of pockets and for all the pranks he pulled over the years that came in handy.

"Enough!" Tsunade said getting the kids attention, "looks like they're arriving."

They waited as the four Sand shinobi came up to them as Tsunade took a step forward, "Greetings, as the new Hokage I formally welcome you to the Village hidden in the Leaves."

Temari was shocked that _this_ was the famous Tsunade the Sannin. This woman looked no older than twenty-five but the reports she had read said that this woman was supposed to be over fifty! If she was she looked amazing and looking at the huge chest she had on her she had to wonder if those were even natural. She looked at her other companions and she could see that Baki was trying not to stare Gaara looked like he was staring at Naruto but without the bloodlust she normally would have expected. Her other brother however was making no attempt to not look at the Hokage's cleavage she smacked him on the back of his head.

He gave a look but she gave him a hard glare before he opened his mouth.

Naruto snickered when the guy in the makeup got smacked for looking at Tsunade, although he suddenly got elbowed by Sakura as he looked at her confused.

"Are you supposed to say something?" She whispered.

"Oh right," Naruto said remembering the greeting that Kakashi made him memorise. He took a few steps forward to Tsunade and gave a bow to her. "I great you and I wish you welcome and safety."

Temari wasn't expecting a formal Suna greeting but she returned the bow, "I am thankful for the hospitality and the honor."

Naruto then smiled up at them and noticed Gaara was walking towards him. He stiffened a bit but something was different this time, he wasn't getting that creepy feeling and of terror like the last times he met the guy. He couldn't place it but the guy just seemed more normal than last time although it was hard to tell with that mostly blank expression on his face.

"Uh...hey?" Naruto said not sure what to say to him.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Gaara said but there was no malice in the tone. "Will you take care of my older sister like you would those precious to you?"

Naruto blinked in confusion before he smiled, "Of course I will! It's a promise and I always keep my promises."

Gaara nodded his head, "Thank you...and...for what you did as well..."

"Huh?" Naruto asked once more confused.

"You showed me where true strength comes from," Gaara said simply and Naruto got a huge smile on his face.

The others who were watching were just as confused. Temari and Kankuro didn't know what to make of their youngest sibling, Kakashi was looking on in interests although he had a small smile under his mask. Tsunade and Shizune were wondering what the story was behind all this, Sasuke just didn't look pleased mainly because watching the two of them, only reminded him of how he had failed to defeat Gaara and Naruto had.

Sakura was caught between confused and nervous being around the boy that had tried to kill her and her team the last time she saw him. Although she couldn't help but notice that the guy seemed less...intense, she supposed the word would be, although she still wasn't exactly easy to be near him. Images of what he had done to Lee replayed in her mind as well.

"Well then," Tsunade said breaking the moment, "I think Naruto should show Temari their new home. The three of you I've made arrangements to be put up in one of the hotels in the village. Tomorrow at ten, I want everyone in my office as we officially swear Temari into the Leaf village and also her place in Team 7."

"Huh, she's going to be in my team?" Kakashi asked.

"If you weren't late all the time you'd know that," Tsunade told him a small vein growing on her head. "Since there are no open slots and given the circumstances, I've allowed her to be placed in your team."

She also secretly hoped that it would help Naruto and Temari get to know each other better through the experiences.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "Hmmm, okay that shouldn't be a problem. But I'll need a week to evaluate them and get their teamwork up to speed before any major missions. D ranks should be okay for now but I need to see what she can do and think of new team tactics with her as well."

Tsunade nodded her head as it sounded okay for her.

"Hey shouldn't you have more stuff?" Naruto asked Temari seeing them only carrying travel bags and such.

"All my stuff is sealed up in scrolls since there is no way I want to haul all that crap all the way here," she told him.

Naruto remembered seeing Tenten used that in the chunin exams in her fight with Temari, that girl had used a lot of weapons and he had forgotten about that.

"Hey is that hard to do using sealing scrolls?" Naruto asked her.

"You don't know how to do that? Most ninja in Suna learn that when they're on a genin team."

That caused the members of Team 7 and Tsunade to glare at Kakashi who at least had the decency to looked a bit embarrassed.

"I kept meaning to but they never really needed it so..."

"You kept putting it off," Tsunade said glaring a bit harder at the man. "Kakashi I know this is your first genin team but you should at least get them up to date, or I might have to consider other ways to 'motivate' you."

Kakashi didn't know what she would let alone could do, but he nodded his head. He mentally sighed as it just meant less reading time and relaxing.

**-Uzumaki Home-**

Temari looked at the place that was to be her new home all in all it wasn't too bad. Looked like they would have some privacy at least something she liked to have now and then although it was odd for her to see so much green. It was the same when she first came here during the chunin exams she wasn't used to this climate either. It was too cool for her tastes but during the exams she did adjust to it and after awhile it wasn't so bad. The sun didn't scorch you as badly, the humidity was a lot more bearable but it was still different.

She had no idea what it was even like to have a yard as the water to maintain grass was a luxury that people didn't bother with as not dying from thirst was more important.

"Well come on, this place is great!" Naruto said smiling eager to show her around. "There's this nice backyard that I think we can turn into a nice training area...that is if that's okay with you?"

Temari shrugged although it did sound like a nice idea to her whatever the shorter blonde was at least he was somewhat practical. "Sounds okay to me, but can I put my stuff away first?"

"Huh, oh sure!" Naruto led her inside and the place obviously would need work, Temari thought looking around.

It certainly could use a woman's touch, plus if she was doomed to live here she might as well make it her own. She took one of the sealing scrolls and placed it on a table, it held things that could easily go down here and she could set it up later. Naruto led her upstairs to where the bedrooms were and a part of her was dreading this, would he force her to sleep in the same bed as him? Sure they were going to be married and she was duty bound to certain parts like at least having one child and the things that came with it. But she sure as hell wasn't going to be some trophy wife either or subservient to his every wishes.

Just as she was about to voice her strong opinions on the matter he spoke up first.

"This is your room, mine is just across the hall." Naruto smiled at her.

Temari blinked a few times a little surprised he had given her, her own room. "My own room?"

"Well yeah," Naruto smiled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I know we'll be married but we don't even know each other all that well. I didn't think you'd like sharing a room with a stranger and it wouldn't really be right to force you to so I figured to give you the large room and I get the smaller one."

Temari had to admit not only was she surprised but she was impressed with his decency in the matter. Although there was one question she had left, "So why did you give me the larger room them?"

"Well I figured you would have more stuff, you know coming from a family and all," he shrugged and she nodded also remembering the report that said he was an orphan. She wasn't sure how to feel about that although sad she didn't really know him that well to really feel much.

"Besides girls tend to have a lot more stuff than boys," he grinned remembering some of the stories Kiba told of his older sister and mother.

Temari's eye twitched, just when he was starting to earn from points with her, he had to go and say something stupid like that. Naruto noticed the glare that she was giving him and shrunk a little under her gaze.

"What did I say?" he muttered.

"Baka," she muttered going into her room leaving Naruto to wonder just why girls were so hard to understand.

She went through setting up her room, the sealed scrolls she had mainly had a lot of her stuff from back in Suna. She gathered up everything she had since it wasn't likely she would go home other than a visitor. So she got her bed, a nice large one with a soft mattress. Sometimes she needed to relax and this was one of them, a dresser, vanity mirror and her clothes and stuff. She still had her equipment scroll that held all her ninja gear and things she needed to repair her fan and the replacement fan too. She decided to leave that for later and placed it aside.

"Hey what's this for?" she heard Naruto's voice and she was starting to wonder if she should worry. She went down to the first level as she saw him looking at the scroll she had left he had it open looking at it.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry," he said quickly trying to move it back to where he found it. "It just looked so cool and I wanted to see how it worked."

Temari was once again wondering if he really was like this or if it was an act, although she didn't know what he would bother to keep it up around her. "Fine, I'll show you but in return you got to help me set things up."

Naruto eagerly agreed with her as he watched as she used the scroll to bring out the items in it. It was basic stuff like a couch, lamp and several other things. Naruto helped her to set up the living room and by the end of it things were looking a bit better now. She put up a spare picture of her and her brothers up as the place felt a bit better with it. After that Naruto showed her around the rest of it, she was surprised by the backyard as he had been right it was a good place for a outdoor training area. The rest was kind of empty but she knew that they had the rest of their lives to fill it up, that thought was a strange one although not very pleasant.

There was a small onsen as well, although it looked to be just newly repaired. Naruto told her that the previous owner was said to have some water jutsu to make it. It wasn't very large looking only to fit a few people but it would be great for those days when she was sore from training.

When he said how he wanted to turn one room into a place to put all their ninja gear she once again liked the idea. When he showed her the room it wasn't much, small, one window, a small closet and apparently he had started. There was a self made shelf with kunai, some wire, extra pouch and holder. The closet she could easily place her fan and a couple of others if she got more. All in all it was a nice starting place and she had to wonder just how a kid so hyperactive and seemingly an idiot had some practical sense.

It just seemed the more she got to know him the more confusing he was as nothing made sense.

Although there was one thing she didn't know about Naruto and that was when they got to the kitchen and she when she took a look at what they had to eat she was dumbfounded by what she found. The fridge held a few things but there were two cupboards full of nothing but ramen. There was instant ramen and ingredients to make your own, and in all kinds of flavours as well.

"How the hell can you eat all this stuff?" she blurted out.

"Why not?" Naruto asked her. "Ramen is the best food there is!"

Temari gave him a level look, "No wonder you're short if that's all you eat."

"What's that's supposed to mean?" he shouted as Temari once again wasn't sure if she should anger the boy or not. She had seen him and knew that in a fight she couldn't beat him.

"I-I just mean that without proper food you can stunt your growth." She told him in the same type of tone she used with Gaara when he had been crazy.

Naruto wasn't sure why she seemed so strange but he didn't think nothing of it but still he didn't get her point. Ramen was the best food there was plus it was easy to make and cheap too. Then a thought hit him, what if she didn't like ramen? How could he get married to a woman that didn't like it? The idea wasn't too pleasant for him but he had to make sure.

"So you don't like ramen?"

"It's okay now and then," Temari said but then looked around the kitchen and frowned. "But there's more than just ramen you know. Don't you have anything else here?"

Naruto thought but in all honesty he hadn't really shopped lately and shrugged. Temari sighed and rubbed her temple so far this wasn't going very well. She gave him a look and hoped that he wouldn't cause a fuss. "We're going out, I need to do some decent shopping for food but since I don't know where any stores are you're going to have to show me where they are."

"Now?" he whined.

"Yes."

Temari, while on the way to the nearest store, had Naruto tell her and show her anything that she needed to know. She had a basic layout of the village from her time here and from her studies but she would be living here so she needed to know where certain stores were. Drug stores for her more feminine products, shopping stores for clothing, decent ninja gear stores, and anything else. So far he was helpful although when she pressed for details on certain stores he only gave her a few, what she didn't know was that these were the only stores that actually let Naruto buy anything.

Naruto for his part did tell her about a few others but he wasn't sure they might let her in given that she was wearing a Suna symbol and the fact that if she was currently walking with him wasn't good either. He noticed the same looks on the villagers, the ones of indifference like he wasn't even there or the few glares at him. Although lately they hadn't been as numerous, he also noticed a few angry looks at Temari. He sighed on the inside he should have guessed that she wouldn't have it easy. He took a few quick glances at her and she didn't seem to notice the looks or just didn't care.

Naruto thought about the day and so far it hadn't been very good, it was just so awkward being with her. He knew next to nothing about her but Tsunade told him that he should give her a little space to settle in first. Although he was curious about her, sure she was a little rough on the outside but she wasn't too mean, she was being nicer then when they first met at least.

**-Later-**

Temari now knew something for sure about Naruto, that whole issue of him being a loud mouthed idiot being an act or not was officially over. It wasn't an act, he really was a loud mouthed idiot. The whole thing with shopping with him had been something that was giving her a headache. The boy was very hyperactive and when she asked for certain things like if he knew where the avocados were he just gave her a blank look. When she found them and showed them to him he said he had thought those were just giant seeds.

Some old bat had also been giving him attitude, she hadn't seen what started but the old lady had been spewing out something at him that mad the boy angry. She had heard him arguing all the way across the store and when she asked him what happened he evaded why the old woman seemed to have it in for him. He just muttered about how stupid some adults were.

She decided to let it drop, the rest of it wasn't easy but eventually she got a decent amount of food. She had taken her savings with her thankfully and paid for them but had Naruto carry them all. There was one good thing with Naruto was that he was the perfect pack mule, all those shadow clones easily made him carry an unlimited number of bags that she could get. She smirked knowing that the next time she got to do some more personal shopping spree to take him with her. She also learned that he wasn't like her brother in the fact that she could actually get mad and he wouldn't try to kill her.

She hadn't been sure about him but so far she had learned that if she glared at him she could control him easily enough. It kind of gave her a perverse sense of power to know she could control a genin as strong as him just because he seemed to be afraid of a girl's glare. Maybe this whole marriage thing could work out after all she thought smugly as they walked back to their home. After putting everything away the rest of the day she just wanted to rest up, it had been a long travel and she was tired.

While she was taking a nap in her room Naruto thought about something to do, mainly he was thinking of how this was going to be his life now. Temari wasn't too bad but she was still cold to him, although Tsunade said to give her space he felt that he should do something nice to at least show her that she was put a little more at ease. Plus he wanted for them to at least be friends at some point, they were going to have to live together and he didn't want them to hate each other.

Then he got an idea, he ran to the kitchen as he figured he would try and make something to eat. Of course he usually did cook ramen but he did eat other things at times. It was just that he really loved ramen but he might as well make something different for her, plus one of the things you learned while living on your own was how to do things yourself like cooking. Of course he had a very hard learning curve but he managed to get through it without burning his old place to the ground.

Although there had been a few close calls before the Third Hokage taught him a few things.

An hour later Temari could have sworn that she smelled something nice, her eyes slowly opened as she got up, her body ached especially her legs. But then her stomach rumbled and she looked at her clock to see the time she looked around confused until she remembered where she was now.

'_Oh right I'm in the Leaf Village,'_ she thought as she got up and stretched. _'What is that smell?'_

She went down and found that it was coming to the kitchen she walked in a little confused to the site. The place had dirty dishes in the sink but on the table there was Naruto setting up what looked like some teppanyaki BBQ. It actually looked kind of good. She was surprised that the blonde knew how to cook something other than ramen.

"Oh hey Temari, I thought I'd cook something nice for your first night here," Naruto said giving her that huge smile of his. She had never known anyone that smiled at much as him in her life.

"Didn't think you knew anything other than ramen with how you talk about it," she said looking at the food.

"Well ramen is the best but I learned a few other things," he said scratching the back of his head.

Temari took a taste of the meat on the dish and she had to admit it wasn't bad, it could be better but it wasn't bad. "Not bad it just needs some more spices."

"Really? I never tried spices so I wasn't sure what to use, it's those things in the little shaker things right?" Naruto pointed to the spices that Temari bought.

"Yes, tell you what next meal I'll help show you them and how to use them." She said and she noticed his huge smile. She didn't understand why he seemed so happy to be shown something so simple as that.

What she didn't understand was that to Naruto, anyone willing to actually show him something and to teach him anything. Sure it was cooking but to Naruto it meant a bit more than that, in fact once Temari got comfortable with a person she wasn't so bad to hang out with. They took their plates and started to eat up, Temari was glad that her future husband had some talent in the kitchen it meant that she wouldn't have to cook all the meals and there was no way in hell she was going to do all the house work.

Naruto hated silences and decided to try and talk, "Hey are you going to see your brothers tomorrow?"

At least that's what he meant to say only with food in his mouth. Temari gave him a glare and he knew he had done something wrong.

"Don't eat with your mouth full, I can't understand you and it's disgusting," she said. Naruto blushed and gulped before saying his question again. "Oh, well I hope to. They're going to be there at me swearing in so I'll see how long they're going to be here for."

Naruto noticed the sad look on her face and he wondered how sad he would be if he had family he wouldn't see. "It must be nice having a family."

"Sometimes it is," she smirked remembering times like when she caught Kankuro stealing her makeup for his 'face paint' years back. She also remembered how things were when Gaara was still young, before something broke in him and he became emotionless and murderous. Now she was going to miss out on all the things with her brothers and she wondered how much they would miss her.

"You're lucky to have them," Naruto said and she looked up to see a strange sight. It was a sad look on his face as he was playing with his food.

It just seemed...wrong, his face was made for happiness and joy and to see it like this just didn't seem right with her. She knew that the boy had no other family and she couldn't begin to understand how that was like. Plus he wasn't too bad a guy, sure he was a loud mouthed idiot but he was actually kind of nice idiot. All day long he had been helpful to her and so maybe he wasn't all bad.

"Well look at it this way, they're going to be your family soon enough," she said.

Naruto looked up at that, he never thought about it. That meant they would be his brothers in law, in a way he would have a family of his own. Sure it wasn't what he always dreamed of but it was more than he had now, he smiled brightly as he thought about this.

"Thanks, Temari! I never thought about it, maybe later we can all get together then, I want to learn more about my new family."

Temari shrugged, "Sure why not."

The rest of the dinner wasn't too bad after that, they talked a bit. Mainly he filled her in on the team members and warned her of a few things like how Kakashi usually was late. She told him a few things about herself as they got to know one another. Both were surprised when they realised they had been talking for a couple of hours. Temari had never actually met anyone interested in her life before, and the same was with Naruto. It was kind of nice for someone to take an interest in their lives for a change. Naruto as the village outcast had never had many people notice him, while Temari on the other hand as the daughter of a Kage and sister to the most feared person in her village didn't leave many that wanted to be her friend.

Naruto offered to do the dishes, at first she thought that maybe she should do at least some work but he said that she had a longer day and it was nothing for him. It was true as he made more shadow clones as one washed, dried and put the plates away. She just shook her head, not understanding how he had the energy to keep making those clones. Although they were very handy to have around the house to say the least, they could have many chores done easily with them.

Temari headed to her room thinking on all that she learned about her future husband. He was still a mystery like to how when he looked so harmless he could be so powerful, how he could act like an idiot at times but then act smart, he was loud and sometimes obnoxious and yet he was kind and caring. She had some answers but it just seemed she also have much more questions. Well whatever it was tomorrow was another day and now she would learn more about her new team.

She sighed wondering if this would get any easier as time when on?

**Next up chapter 5: The new Team 7**

Sorry if the chapters seems kind of slow/dull but I needed for them to have a little start on getting used to each other. More interesting stuff will come later.


	5. The New Team 7

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 5: The new Team 7**

Temari awoke to the strange room and for a moment forgot where she was until she remembered things. It never stopped being weird to wake up in another village. She had gotten up and looked at the clock and sighed, she woke up a bit earlier than she had meant to, well she wasn't going back to sleep. She got up and put on a robe and went to the bathroom, she noticed that Naruto's door was slightly open and she could hear the snoring inside of it. She knocked on his door.

"Naruto, you might as well get up. I'm taking the bathroom first so stay the hell out," She warned him.

"Huh?" Naruto muttered.

"I'll be using the bathroom first." She told him again as he muttered something as he yawned.

Temari shrugged hoping he remembered, the last thing she needed was for him to be too sleepy and walk in on her. She did her usual morning rituals and finished off with a nice long hot shower. That was one of the things she did like about this village, they were rich in water and you could shower at any time you wanted. That month she had spent in this village training during the exams, she had taken a shower every day. She loved how the hot water went over her body since in Suna water was always kept cold. But here she could enjoy the heated water, it was one of the few pleasures she liked about her new life.

She finished up and walked out just in time to see a sleepy Naruto walking towards her, she blinked mainly at the sight of something on his head.

"What...the hell is that?" She asked him staring at the night cap on his head. It was some black and white monstrosity that looked like some kind of animal head with two large teeth. She didn't think that a ninja his age would even have something like that.

"What's wrong with it?" Naruto asked looking up seeing where she was looking. "Iruka-sensei gave this to me when I was younger."

"Oh, sorry it's just...really strange to see someone with it." She said. He sounded very offended that she had said something against it and the fact that it was a gift from someone Temari figured it had sentimental value to him. "Anyway, bathroom is all yours."

"Alright," He yawned and then he noticed something about her. She was only in a robe and her blonde hair was slick down. She didn't have her hair up in those pigtails of hers and he blinked a few times. This was the closest he had been to a girl that had so little on. He knew that he shouldn't but he wondered if she was wearing underwear or not. He also noticed she actually looked kind of...nice with her hair like that. He started to form a slight blush.

Temari noticed how he was looking at her she wasn't used to people looking at her with that kind of look. She had seen boys give her an interesting look that is until it was known who her family was and then they pretty much ran off. She felt a slight heat in her cheeks as she felt a bit too exposed with so little clothing then just her robe.

"What are you looking at!?" She snapped out of reflex.

"Ah! Sorry-I mean nothing-I mean, I'm going to the bathroom!" Naruto said quickly and ran off to it. He closed the door behind him wondering what the hell was going on with him.

He was still thinking about it when he was in the shower.

'_Why did I start looking at her like that?'_ He thought to himself. _'Okay yeah she is kind of pretty, and nice legs-no! Bad thoughts! Besides I liked Sakura-chan don't I?'_

'_But I can't be with Sakura-chan ever now,'_ he looked down depressed. Ever since that day he accepted his fate he had been trying to overcome his feelings for his teammate but it wasn't easy. He had liked her for years and you just don't get over that but he had been trying. He sighed as he finished up his shower and got dressed, although breakfast that day was a bit awkward between the two of them.

When they arrived at the Hokage's office they found the rest of their team along with Temari's brother. Both of them walked up to the woman's desk as Tsunade cleared her throat, she wasn't one for ceremony so she wanted to get through this. Besides there was a lot of paperwork piling up and if she ever wanted to get through it all she couldn't afford to linger on this.

"Temari," Tsunade said putting on her official Hokage look and voice. "Do you accept your role as a Leaf Ninja, will you give your life for the mission, and for the safety of the village? Do you swear by the Will of Fire to your allegiance to us for the rest of your days?"

Temari knew that if she spoke up she couldn't take back what she answered. Saying no, would cause lots of trouble but if she said yes, it would mean that if she ever went back on her word she would be hunted down and killed as a traitor. But she really had no option.

"I swear it, on my life, my honor and my blood."

Tsunade nodded and pushed the paper to her, Temari sighed the paper as the Hokage stamped it making her an official Leaf genin. Tsunade handed it off as Shizune sighed it as a witness and then went to file it. Tsunade then pulled out a leaf hit-ate and passed it to the younger blonde. Temari took it and looked at it for a moment it was strange to think she had to wear this as before she had proudly worn her Suna symbol. She took a breath and slowly undid her own hit-ate around her neck. She ran her thumb over the symbol there sad that she would never again wear it. She looked to Baki and put her hand out for him to take it.

Baki shook his head, "Keep it, as a reminder of your past and of your history."

Temari gave a thankful smile to him as she placed it in her pocket. Then she tied on the new hit-ate around her neck, even though it was basically the same thing with only a different symbol on it, it still felt weird to her.

"Now then," Tsunade said getting everyone's attention, "The wedding itself will be in three months, on the twenty-second. I figure that will be given enough time for Naruto and Temari to at least get to know each other a bit more. Baki, you and Temari's brothers are welcome to visit at any time of course and are invited along with any officials that I just know will want to butt into this whole thing at the wedding."

Baki nodded to her and he too knew of a few members of the council would want to attend.

"Are there any questions?" the Hokage asked looking around.

"I have one," Temari said. "What are the 'duties' that I'll have to do?"

Tsunade was impressed the girl had thought of that, and by the confused looks for Naruto and Sakura it was a good thing that Temari hadn't been less vague.

"The council agrees that they can't for the 'issue' until you both are both mature, however they did want me to tell you that anything before they feel the time is right is up to you." Tsunade said.

Temari nodded in understanding, she knew that she would have to produce at least one child but it was nice to know that they wouldn't totally force her to have sex. She didn't feel ready for that and she got the feeling that Naruto wasn't either with the way he acted. But she had time to put it off at least, she was lucky as when this had happened in the past there were times when the female or male was to produce a child as soon as they could.

"Well then if that's all you can all go now, Kakashi I'll want an evaluation of Temari with your team as soon as you can get it done," Tsunade told him. With that everyone left her office so she could get back to work, or sneak in a small drink of sake if she could get to it before Shizune got back with more of the dreaded paperwork.

While outside the Hokage Tower, Temari was talking with her old team.

"So how long are you all going to be staying?" she asked them.

"At least for another day or so," Baki told her, "It is a long trip back and we might as well rest up and resupply."

"Hey Temari," Naruto said to her, "Why don't you spend some time with them before they go?"

Temari blinked surprised at his generosity, "You sure?"

"Sure why not?" He grinned at her he knew that she would miss her family a lot so he figured that she should spend some time with them too. After all they didn't know where they would meet them next so he wanted her to spend as much time as she could.

"Thanks," Temari told him.

"Well first I want to see what Temari can do with some light training," Kakashi said thinking about things. "How about after that I'll give you all the afternoon off and Temari here can spend time with her brothers and teacher."

"Sounds good to me," Kankuro said, "I was looking into some material that I can't get in Suna for a new project of mine anyway. How about you Gaara?"

"It's fine with me," Gaara told them.

"Good then, Temari you can meet them later after training then at their hotel," Kakashi said as both teams said their goodbyes as Team 7 went to their training area.

**-Team 7 Training Grounds-**

Temari looked around the grounds, it was a lot different than what she was used to. There was more cover and water nearby, not to mention all the trees. The grass could take a little getting used to at first since sand was a harder surface to fight on. But all in all it wasn't so bad so far, although she still wasn't sure about her team mates. The Uchiha boy looked totally as arrogant as ever, it was a shame that the pretty boy had to be so cold he could have any girl in the village if he wasn't. Although from the attitude and looks that the pink haired girl was giving him was starting to make her sick.

Fan girl Kunoichi were the ones that gave female ninja like her a bad name, even that girl that Temari had beaten in her chunin match had been more professional. Their teacher however was just strange, he always seemed to wear that mask and she was starting to think he had some kind of scarring, at least that's why she assumed Baki always hid half his face so maybe this jonin had damage to his lower face.

Kakashi looked over his team although this was highly unusual to have four genin but he was actually looking forward to it. It would be a unique challenge although he would have to step up his training with the team though, the thought of the things that Tsunade could do if he slacked off too much wasn't pleasant. He was also wondering how Naruto and Temari were doing, so far they seemed okay although not very close but he wasn't expecting them to be all over each other after one day.

"Well then, let's start off by introducing each other to Temari." Kakashi said smiling under his mask. "I know we all did this on our first day but I want her to hear it and I also want you to list any skills you think you should let her know as well so when she does it we can all get an idea of each other's abilities."

Kakashi looked to Sasuke as the boy prodigy rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe that he had to go through this whole thing again.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I only have two goals in life. First is to restore my clan and the other is to kill a certain man. I can do a few fire jutsus, chidori, my family style of taijutsu, some wire work and fuma shuriken. "He simply said in a bored tone.

"Alright, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura gave a small nod, "Sakura Hanaro, I like my friends, I'm happy that I'm repairing my friendship with Ino, I want to become a stronger ninja as well, until recently I realised I need to be stronger. I...don't really have any of my own jutsus other then the academy ones."

Sakura felt embarrassed to admit this but the chunin exams had shown her that she had a long way to go to catch up to her teammates. "As for my hopes and dreams other than being a stronger ninja I hope that one day I can get the boy that I like to notice me."

She gave a hopeful look at Sasuke but sighed in defeat when she saw him not even looking at her. Kakashi had to admit that Sakura had grown some since that first day, maybe if she was willing to work so hard he could help her in her training a bit more. He then looked at Naruto and gave him a nod.

"Alright time for me!" Naruto shouted out. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I like ramen, training, my friends. I hate people who look down on others and can't see beyond the surface. And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage ever to have lived!"

Temari hadn't known that Naruto had such high aims for his ninja career, she wasn't sure if it was laughable or not. One the one hand he wasn't the sharpest kunai in the bunch but she also couldn't deny his combat skills or power.

"My skills include shadow clones, sexy jutsu," this earned him a glare from Sakura and Temari was wondering what the hell that move was as she never heard of anything like that before. "I also can summon and I know rasengan."

"Wait, what was that Naruto?" Kakashi asked him surprised.

"Huh?"

"The last two," Kakashi said again. "When did you learn those?"

"Oh I learned summoning from Ero-sennin during the chunin exams training month."

"I can vouch for the summons, I saw him use it against my brother," Temari said.

"Wait, who is Ero-sennin?" Sakura asked Naruto never hearing that and not sure she wanted to know with a name like that.

"He means, Jiraiya of the Sannin," Kakashi told her.

Sakura's eyes widened, she remembered the stories as he was one of the strongest ninja in the world and one of the three members of the legendary trio of ninja from her village. Tsunade was one and that snake freak Orochimaru had been the other.

"Yeah, that's Ero-sennin," Naruto said.

"Naruto show some respect!" Sakura said bobbing him on the head. "Don't call someone that! It's amazing that Tsunade-sama doesn't kill you every time you call her baa-chan!"

"But he's a pervert!" Naruto said and got another hit to the head thankfully she wasn't hitting him as hard as she used to. She had toned down the hits lately although if he really pissed her off then they went to full force but she hadn't done that lately.

Temari just couldn't understand why Naruto took it, he was obviously stronger than the others but he just took it. Although she had to admit, that Naruto did need a lesson in manners so she would let Sakura administer any punishment as long as the girl didn't go too far but she looked like she knew what she was doing.

"Hey don't blame me, he actually admitted to being a pervert when we first met! I caught him peeping on the women's hot springs and he's the guy that writes those books that Kakashi-sensei reads all the time!" Naruto said explaining to her.

Sakura blinked a few times, she couldn't believe that one of the most legendary ninja alive would do that kind of stuff but she knew that when she pushed Naruto couldn't lie to her. If she was angry with him he always told the truth to get out of getting hit but she had thought that a legendary ninja was supposed to be more respectable.

"He writes what?" Temari asked looking at Kakashi. The man shrugged and pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise and Temari's eyes narrowed. She had seen those books in Suna hell Kankuro had the collection in his room even. She once took a look at those things thinking they were just some story she was in for a surprise when she got halfway through the first chapter and the main characters were going at it like a bunch of rabbits.

Temari looked at Sakura, "I think you owe him an apology, given all that I think the guy deserves to be called that."

Sakura thought about it and looked to Naruto, "Sorry, Naruto."

He just shrugged it off with a grin.

"Anyways, please continue where you left off," Kakashi told Naruto.

The genin thought about what else he had learned and he smiled brightly. "Oh yeah, while I was looking for Baa-chan he also trained me in rasengan." He said grinning.

"Wait, you learned that in a month?" Kakashi asked Naruto who nodded. "I have to say, Naruto that's very impressive."

"Why is that Kakashi-sensei? What's a rasengan?" Sakura asked the tall scarecrow as Sasuke himself looked interested.

"It's a technique created by the Fourth Hokage," Kakashi told them all surprise written on their faces other than Naruto of course. "You see it took him four years to create it also it took Jiraiya-sama over three months for him to learn it, the fact that Naruto did it in one is mind blowing. Naruto can you use it so I can see just how well you've developed it?"

Naruto grinned hugely, it was nice for Kakashi to finally notice him like this and for once he felt great with this kind of attention. He first formed a shadow clone and with his help he started to gather up the chakra. Kakashi had to admit that was a unique way of creating the rasengan although already he could see that Naruto needed to improve in order to do it one handed. But for a young boy like him to be able to use it along was impressive. Sakura and Temari had never seen anything like it before, the chakra was actually visible. Temari couldn't believe that the boy was actually stronger than the last time she met him and that was only two months ago.

'_Just how much stronger will he get?'_ Temari began to wonder. '_At this rate he might actually become Hokage one day.'_

Sasuke stared at it there were no hand seals to it, so how did Naruto do it? There was no way that the dead last at the academy had learned something as advanced as that in a month.

Naruto felt the ball of chakra ready and ran forward to a tree, "Rasengan!"

The result was the tree being obliterated as well as the ground in front of it and behind the tree as it was blown to pieces like a canon hit it. Naruto turned around grinning happy with this new technique of his.

"I have to admit I'm very impressed," Kakashi said looking at him with some pride. "If I had known you could master that move in a month I would have helped train you in it when I was training Sasuke."

"How could you do that?" Naruto asked him.

Kakashi chuckled, "Naruto, who do you think was my sensei?"

Kakashi then held out a hand as everyone was surprised to see Kakashi form a rasengan of his own. "He taught me just like he taught Jiraiya-sama. Although I wish it had taken me a month like you, you actually beat me at that."

Naruto was grinning ear to ear now.

"But I could still do it one handed so you might need more work on yours so you don't need a shadow clone." Kakashi told him making the boy face fault at that. "You should know it was training with the rasengan that led me to create the chidori."

Kakashi was still very proud of Naruto's skills so far, he had a good guess at what the boy could summon but he would do that later. He was clad that Naruto had gotten so strong, he hadn't wanted to just ignore him in the chunin exams but the things was that Sasuke needed it more. While Naruto was up against Neji, if he won or loss the boy would still be alive. If Sasuke had gone up against Gaara without being properly prepared he would have died. So if Sasuke had defeated Gaara, then Naruto would have faced Sasuke most likely in the end and there was no way that Naruto would be killed in that.

Of course if Sasuke had still lost and died then he would have told Naruto to forfeit, there was no shame in that and if he had lost one student he didn't want to lose another. It had been a calculating risk, plus there was no one else he could train Naruto other then who he had picked and there had been no time to teach him anything new, at least he thought there hadn't been time. It would seem that he would have to pay a bit more attention to see what Naruto's true skills were.

Kakashi then turned to Temari, "Well then let's not forget are newest teammate."

Temari blinked forgetting that she was supposed to do the whole intro thing too. They had gotten side tracked but so far she had learned a couple of more details about Naruto. So she took a breath and decided to get out with it.

"You all know my name so I'll skip that," Temari said bluntly. "I like training, barbeque, salads, and light music. I loved my village despite certain events and I guess I'll try and do the same for this one. My dream has always been to become one of the strongest Kunoichi in the world so I guess my new life won't interfere with that. I was looking forward to healing the rift between my brothers and me but..." She trailed off as she might have to give up on that dream.

Naruto looked down at the ground feeling a bit responsible for her, he wished that she didn't have to be separated from her family like she was but both of them had no way of getting around it.

"Anyways," Temari said shaking herself out of it. "As for abilities I use my fan for a lot of them but I'm pretty good at taijutsu as well. I can summon as well as I hold the weasel contract but I usually only use the one summon animal so far. My jutsus are, Cutting Whirlwind and the stronger version Great Cutting Whirlwind, Dust Wind Technique and also Wind Release: Severing Pressure."

Kakashi mulled that over for a bit from what he remembered of her fight against Tenten. "Tell me, Temari are you a wind natured element user?"

"Of course how else can I use wind chakra." Temari asked him looking at him like he was an idiot.

"What's wind chakra?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, didn't you pay any attention to Iruka-sensei at all in the academy?" Sakura chided him. "There are five elements in ninjutsu and people usually have an affinity to one. Although you can have secondary affinities these tend to be weaker though and usually you'd only find one maybe two other secondary affinities."

Kakashi nodded, "Exactly, Temari I can assume you're wind natured, myself I'm lightning but I have secondary affinities to fire and water. I can use others but they are very hard to do even if I copy them, that's one of the weaknesses to the sharingan even if you copied something you can't use it to its full potential all the time. It's why even though I know a lot of jutsu you only see me use a few element types, if I force to use something that I have no affinity with it increases the drain on my chakra."

"Although there are two main uses for advance chakra use, one is element nature like we've been talking about but the other is shape, which is what Naruto has learned with the rasengan." Kakashi looked at the blonde genin.

"So if I learn element nature I'll get both types?" Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded and Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought, "Cool! So how can I find out what element I am?"

"Kakashi-sensei do you think I could learn as well?" Sakura asked. She was feeling pretty left out, Temari was the newest addition and she was already way ahead of her. Plus she needed to learn more of her own stuff as she had vowed to become stronger.

Kakashi pulled out two pieces of paper, "Okay then it's a good thing I brought these with me. These are special papers that have been used with trees raised up specifically to make this paper. Just take one and put some chakra into it and it will tell you what kind of affinity you have."

Naruto and Sakura both took a piece as they closed their eyes and put in some chakra.

Sakura opened her eyes to see that her paper got all wet, Kakashi looked at it and told her she had a water affinity. Naruto looked at his puzzled as he held up his as it was split down the center.

"Well Naruto, looks like you and Temari have something in common, you're both wind users." Kakashi said to him.

"Really?" Naruto looked at Temari. The older girl was surprised that he had wind chakra since it was a rare type.

Kakashi smiled at them, "Well then Temari, I hope you can help train Naruto in wind chakra since you'll be better at this then me. I don't know much about that type but since you're already using it you can easily teach Naruto. And Naruto, just so you know if you master both types, the shape and elemental you can merge them to create very powerful jutsus but I highly suggest that you perfect both before you even attempt that."

"No problem Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said as he was eager to learn wind elemental chakra, it would mean that he could make some really powerful jutsus in the future. It would also put him above Sasuke as well and to him that was another reason to do this.

"So then, let's get to some training shall we?" Kakashi said to them all.

He started off with the basics to see where they were, tree walking, a light taijutsu sparing as well. He put up Naruto with Sasuke and the boys were just as eager to go at it, more so Sasuke for some reason. Sakura and Temari, well it had been pretty one sided but he had seen in more depth the kind of fighting that Temari did. It seemed to him that she mainly used her fan and didn't use hand to hand all that much although she was still above Sakura in that department. They had them each use a jutsu that they listed off as well. He was impressed with Temari's abilities, she was the perfect long to medium range fighter something they were missing in their team.

Sakura he noticed seemed to be getting depressed as she watched the other members of the team and he sighed knowing that the young girl was most likely feeling like the weak link in the team. He hadn't realised just how far behind she had gotten, didn't she study in her time off or train like the other boys did? Maybe he should have a talk with her about taking her training more seriously soon, now that he knew her element maybe he could figure out a few techniques that would be good for her as well.

**Next up chapter 6: Tension**


	6. Tension

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 6: Tension**

The training with Team 7 was going well in Kakashi's opinion. By the end of the first day he had pretty much gathered most of what he needed Temari was definitely a very highly skilled kunoichi for her age and could see why she was picked for this whole affair. She was weak in close range combat though but that was easy to work on and that was what the rest of the team was for. He had noticed that Sakura had been pushing herself harder than normal, which was good to see and he was wondering if it was because of their new team mate? At any rate it was getting late and noticed that they were starting to tire.

"Alright everyone that's enough for today," Kakashi said as they all stopped their training. "I'll see you all here tomorrow at nine for missions and then training afterwards."

As the team members started to file out he noticed that Sasuke was walking towards him. He had a feeling what the genin wanted and he was starting to worry about it.

Sasuke walked right up to Kakashi and looked up at the jonin teacher.

"You said that you know how to use the rasengan right?" the Uchiha avenger asked.

"Yes and no I'm not teaching you it," Kakashi told him and he could see the anger there in the boy's eyes.

"Why not? You taught me the chidori and I can use something like that rasengan thing," Sasuke told him although he also thought that an idiot like Naruto shouldn't have a stronger technique than him. He was the prodigy in the class while, Naruto had been the dead last. He had no idea when or how Naruto kept getting so much stronger but he needed to keep ahead of the annoying blonde.

"Naruto is a...special case," Kakashi told him. He couldn't just come out and say it was because of who Naruto's father was or because of what was sealed inside of the boy.

Sasuke didn't like that word that Kakashi had used unfortunately. _'Special? There's nothing special about him, he's an annoying, loudmouth, and an idiot. Why the hell should he get a jutsu like that anyway, he doesn't need it! I have to become stronger to kill Itachi and I won't be held back.'_

Kakashi could see that the young boy wasn't taking this well, "Sasuke you're very strong as it is, I already taught you my only original jutsu, you're faster and stronger than you were before the chunin exams as well. Although I didn't approve of you stealing Lee's movements but we've already talked about that."

During the training month, Kakashi had seen the boy use moves that only Gai or a student of his would know. When he asked him the boy admitted to coping Lee's movements from earlier and Kakashi had taken the boy aside and gave him a lecture on how it was improper to use the sharingan against allies. That was one of the reasons many had a dislike for certain Uchiha members, when you trained your ass off and someone just walks in and copies your hard work in a blink of an eye, resentments easily followed.

"Look, the only way you'll learn the Rasengan is if Naruto trains you in it if you ask him and he agrees to do it," Kakashi told him.

Sasuke scowled at the thought, there was no way the dead last of the class could teach him, the last of the Uchiha anything, the idea of even asking him for help in any kind of training was laughable and an insult to him as well. Naruto wasn't something special and he sure as hell couldn't train him to do anything.

"Then why can't you train me in another type of shaping then?" Sasuke asked him.

Kakashi sighed, "Sasuke I've already given you lots of training. I've even ignored some of the progress of the others just for you and I can't keep doing it."

What he didn't mention was that he also did it to keep Sasuke from being killed by Gaara and also to keep him away from Orochimaru. He eyed that mark that was just inside of his shirt collar, it didn't look like the seal he had put on the boy was weakening but he was starting to worry about the boy. Ever since he woke up from Itachi using that technique on him again he had been colder and more distant. All that progress they had made seemed to be falling apart, and Kakashi was running out of ways to keep the team together.

Not that Kakashi could entirely blame the boy, after three days of being put on a cross and being cut over and over again by Itachi, Kakashi didn't want to go through something like that again anytime soon. Although Kakashi had an idea of what Sasuke had seen in those three days of his own. Maybe he should see if he could get Sasuke some help, the boy never talked about his problems as he just kept them bottled up inside and the jonin could see it was eating the boy up inside.

But then again who was Kakashi to judge either? For years he left the deaths of Obito and Rin and everyone else he cared for weigh on his shoulders. He went to the memorial stone all the time just staring at all the names he knew from over the years. Although Obito was always the name he looked at first and for the longest.

'_Maybe I should take my own advice sometime,'_ Kakashi thought to himself as he internally sighed.

"Sasuke you're already very strong as it is, one of the strongest genin around and in time you will only get stronger but you need to learn patience. You can't just become stronger overnight, it takes lots of hard and you can't expect to just be handed everything all the time."

With that Sasuke turned around and walked off, angered that Kakashi wouldn't teach him. He couldn't understand it, he was the top of the class and better than any ninja in his age group, even older ninja. Besides he needed to be stronger, after all the training he had done when he had gone up against his brother he had been swatted away like a fly. Then there were those eyes of his brother, those uncaring eyes.

'_You don't hate enough.'_

His older brother's words ran in his ears before he went through three days of hell watching his family and clan being killed over and over again. His fists clenched so hard that his nails were biting hard enough into his palms to draw out a little blood.

'_They don't understand, none of them understood,' Sasuke_ thought as he walked back to the empty Uchiha district. He looked around at all the empty buildings. He remembered when they were filled with his clan, but they were falling into disrepair, even the old police station was now used by ANBU now. He remembered when these streets were alive with people, adults and children playing. Sometimes he could still remember the sounds of life on this road but not anymore. They were as silent as a tome for years now.

'_None of them can understand the loss I've suffered,' _Sasuke darkly thought as he walked through the streets. _'I only have my vengeance in life, I've spent all this time to get stronger and I'm still too weak. I need to be stronger or I'll never kill him, my clan will never be avenged and I'll never find any kind of peace.'_

He still had nightmares of that night, especially lately. He stopped looking around as his hatred grew and grew. He remembered the kindness of his mother, and his father had finally had taken notice of him. He had mastered that fire jutsu after all that hard work he his father was finally going to train him but then his older brother killed them all. He still couldn't stand to be in the room where his parents had been killed, he knew that the blood had been cleaned up but he knew what had happened in that room.

'I swear no matter what I will get stronger,' Sasuke vowed to himself and to the dead ghosts that haunted these buildings. 'I will get stronger and kill Itachi, no matter what I will. I don't care if his village is holding me back I will find a way to get stronger.'

"Ugh," He grunted out feeling the seal on his neck flared up. He felt the cold sweat on his brow as he fought it back, although for a moment he remembered a bit of what it felt like to use it. He had felt powerful, more powerful than he had ever felt but he had been warned about using it. He remembered how hard his match in the chunin exams had been because of it but maybe there was a way of mastering it, there had to be a way to use the seal and stay in control.

He started to slowly grin at the thought of that.

Little did he know that he was being watched by a pair of eyes in the shadows.

"How much longer are we going to wait?" A voice said.

"Yeah, this if fucking annoying," a female said.

"Shut it, we were to check on his progress and until we get the word from Lord Orochimaru we won't approach him until the time is right," Said a deeper voice.

"Fine but I just hope it's not too long," the final figure said being very bored.

**-Naruto and Temari-**

The two genins were walking their way to where her brother's were located. Mainly Naruto was just walking with her to make sure she knew the way and also because he wanted to talk to Gaara again. He wasn't sure why but he could tell that the boy had gone through a change and that was good. Gaara was a lot like him in so many ways, and it would be nice to make a friend that knew what it was like to have a demon locked up inside of you and how people treated someone like that.

"So what did you think of the team?" Naruto asked trying to make conversation.

"It's...different," Temari told him. "The pink haired girl needs to train a hell of a lot more that's for sure, and the Uchiha needs to get that stick out of his ass too."

At that Naruto started laughing, "Finally someone that feels the same way! I mean all the girls are all over him it's always Sasuke-kun this or Sasuke-kun that, man I don't get what's so cool about him."

"Well he is pretty good looking and he's got that dark mysterious things going for him," she remarked remembering her first time seeing him. She noticed the scowl on the other blonde and she had to admit, it was kind of cute if a bit childish. "But he's got no real personality."

"That's for sure," Naruto muttered, "I've been trying to get him to lighten up for a long time but mostly he just ignores it. I mean I once put exploding paint bombs in the teacher's lounge and everyone but Sasuke had laughed when the teachers were in all kinds of different colors for the rest of the day."

"You did what!?" Temari looked at him surprised she couldn't believe he had done something like that. If she had tried something like that her father would have been so angry with her she didn't want to think about what he would have done.

"Oh I've done a lot more than that," he chuckled, "I used to do lots of pranks all the time."

"Why?"

Naruto thought about it, "Well sometimes it was to get back at people who weren't nice to me, sometimes it was to get people to notice me other times it was just fun! I mean haven't you ever pulled something over someone?"

"I'm a Kage's daughter, I can't be seen doing childish things," she told him remembering her own childhood. Her father was a very strict upbringing. She hadn't allowed to do a lot of what younger girls were allowed to do because she had to keep up a proper appearance.

"Man that's too bad you missed out on a lot of fun I bet," Naruto told her with his arms behind his head.

"So what?" She snapped, "We're not children anymore so it's pointless."

"Oh come on you're never too old to have fun," He said but she wasn't talking at that moment. He grunted and starting thinking about her, she was way too serious at times. A slow smile started to form on his face, if she was too serious then there was only one thing to do with that, he had to show her a good time and make her have fun. If he could do that then maybe she would be a little less stiff with everyone.

"Hey Temari," A voice called out as Naruto looked up to see her brothers and their sensei.

"Kankuro, Gaara, Baki-sensei," Temari said nodding to them.

"So how did training go," Baki asked his former student.

"It went alright I suppose," She said with a shrug.

Baki nodded and cast a glance over at Naruto who was making his way over to Gaara," So things are going well with him?"

"He's...not what you'd expect, are you sure of the reasons you were giving as to why the council chose him?" Temari asked her old teacher. She had been made aware before she came as to why the Suna council chose Naruto as her future husband. Although she did agree that he was very strong but given what she had learned from just a few days of being around him so much she wasn't sure just how close her council was to the actual truth.

"Are you saying that they were wrong about him?" Baki asked concerned.

"I'm not sure I know how strong he is. In fact he's actually gotten stronger with learning a move of their Fourth Hokage in only a month, but as for him being some kind of 'secret weapon' I'm not seeing it."

Baki nodded and put that information away for the moment even if the council made a small error the boy was very strong in his own right.

"Hey Gaara, how have you been?" Naruto smiled at the red headed boy.

Gaara looked a little unsure, he never had anyone actually be nice to him and not all that long ago they were trying to kill one another, or at least he had been trying to kill the blonde. But it was also Naruto that had opened his eyes and truth be told he felt better about himself a lot lately too.

"I've been well," Gaara said to him in that same neutral tone although there was a hint of something different. There was no menace in his voice anymore and Naruto smiled at the sound of that. Naruto wasn't getting that creepy vibe off him anymore and the boy could just tell that Gaara really had changed. He could see it in Gaara's eyes the most, they were still hard eyes but no longer had that hint of madness to them.

Naruto gave that usual foxy grin at him, "That's good to hear. I think I'll like having you for a brother."

Gaara didn't know what to say to that, he was still getting used to feeling things and although it was strange the feeling he was getting felt...nice.

Gaara nodded his head as he too felt that having him as a brother or at least a brother-in law would be nice. The boy was just like him and Gaara felt less alone in the world now.

Kankuro blinked looking as his younger brother and Naruto started talking, well Naruto did most of the talking as he told Gaara all about the day so far. He looked back to Temari and Baki who looked on as Naruto was totally at ease with Gaara and Gaara actually seemed a bit more relaxed as well.

"What the hell?" Kankuro asked silently to them both. "How the hell does he just talk to him like that after everything and Gaara actually seems to, like the guy."

Temari just watched but a small smile formed on her lips seeing Naruto act out the day's events in exaggerated motions as Gaara watched on. Unless you know Gaara very well you couldn't pick up on his subtle moods, and Temari could see that her youngest brother was actually enjoying himself. It was just the way Gaara carried himself, it was less stiff and relaxed. She remembered how much that Naruto had gone through to make her comfortable and it dawned on her that despite his more annoying traits, deep down he was actually a nice guy. This was the first time she had seen someone actually try and reach out to her little brother like that.

"So are we going to eat of what?" Kankuro asked bored after awhile.

"Oh hey I know the best place to eat!" Naruto smiled largely and looked to Gaara, "Hey you like ramen?"

Temari rolled her eyes, she had figured out just how much of a ramen freak he was and although she liked it herself Naruto wanted to eat it all the time. But seeing Naruto and Gaara together maybe it would be good for Gaara to spend a bit more time with him.

"Well I guess so," Temari said as the others didn't have anything against it.

Naruto was all smiles as he led them to his most favourite spot to eat in the whole world. The Ichiraku Ramen Bar, ran by Teuchi and his daughter Ayame. Naruto hadn't eaten there in awhile given how busy he was lately so he was eager to hurry up and eat his fill, plus with the new pay he was getting from Tsunade his frog looking wallet (gama-chan) was a nice large shape. He led them through the streets as they came to the stand with the drapes over it as Naruto ducked his head under the cloth.

"Hey old man I need at least five bowls of miso ramen!" Naruto called out as he sat on his favourite stool.

"Naruto-kun, we haven't seen you in a while," Ayame smiled at him as her father got the order ready. Then she noticed the others coming in, "oh, hello. Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen, what will you take?"

They gave their orders as the father and daughter team went to work on things.

"Well it smells good so far," Baki said out loud.

"Yeah, they serve the best ramen in the world here," Naruto grinned as he couldn't wait for his first bowl.

Teuchi laughed as he got the noodles ready, "Thanks for the free advertising Naruto, and that's one of the reasons you're our number one customer."

"So are you friends of Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked them.

"Uh...actually Temari here is...uh..." Naruto wasn't sure how to go about it. He had told them of what was going on with him awhile back but he hadn't mentioned names to them.

"I'm Temari," the blonde female said. "I'm Naruto's...fiancé."

That caused both cooks to pause for a second, they hadn't known who was going to marry Naruto although the old ramen cook had to admit the girl was pretty if a little serious. Ayame however went right into Temari's face nearly making the newly made Leaf genin pull back a bit in her seat.

"Oh so you're the one that he's told us about," Ayame looked the girl over and it was making Temari a little uncomfortable. "Please take care of Naruto-kun, he's a really nice guy and he could use someone in his life, plus maybe you can help keep him out of trouble."

"Nee-chan!" Naruto said embarrassed.

Kankuro chuckled at the look on the boy's face.

"Shut it, makeup boy."

"What did you call me!?" Kankuro shouted out, "This is war paint for your information."

"I think it's really makeup, after all you dress up like a cat and play with dolls." Naruto said crossing his arms.

"They're not dolls!" the puppet user said in the defence of his beloved puppets.

Temari couldn't stop a snickering escaping from her mouth, this wasn't the first time someone said this to her brother although not this blatantly before. She also noticed that Gaara had a slight twitch on the side of his mouth for a second, she was surprised that Gaara had nearly smiled at that.

"Oh I think playing with dolls is cute," Ayame smiled. "And it shows you're really comfortable in your own masculinity to wear makeup."

Kankuro just sat there with his mouth open he then slumped down into his seat sulking, being insulted by the blonde loudmouth was bad enough but now the pretty girl behind the counter was getting in on it too. Hell even his sister often said that was why he couldn't get a date.

They started to eat up once the orders were ready they were surprised by just how much Naruto could eat, as they started to eat up Temari got to know the two ramen stand workers. They seemed fairly nice and they seemed to really like Naruto as well and the ramen wasn't bad either. By the time they left, Temari had to admit that the place while not fancy was still kind of nice. And with how much Naruto spent, it was little wonder why he was their number one customer.

"Ah, now that's what I call a good meal," Naruto said patting his stomach. So far he had to admit that things were going well, he was getting along with Temari and her brothers and former teacher. Although he kept trying to sneak a look under that half of Baki's face that was covered, honestly why did some ninja have to hide their faces? He got enough of that with Kakashi.

Although Naruto was having such a good time that he wasn't watching where he was going and when they turned the corner he nearly slammed into someone.

"Hey, careful Naruto!"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts as he nearly ran into Tenten.

"Oh man sorry about that Tenten," He said and then noticed that she was with Neji and Lee on his crutches. "Hey Neji, hey there fuzzy brows."

"Naruto-kun it is very youthful to see you again," Lee smiled at him but then noticed that his two friends weren't as happy. In fact they were looking at Naruto's companions especially to Gaara. Lee locked eyes with the red headed genin that had put him into this condition and said boy stared back.

Naruto looked at both groups and swallowed nervously, there was a lot of bad blood between the two groups. First there was how badly Tenten lost to Temari, then there had been what Gaara had done to Lee. He was hoping that a fight wouldn't break out as things had been going to great today. But given his luck he should have known that something would ruin things. To say there was tension was like saying that Jiraiya was a pervert, Tenten took a hard look at Temari but she had promised not to start anything with her. But Gaara on the other hand, she had seen how bad Lee had taken to his injuries at first and what the boy had done in the chunin exams had been out of line in her opinion.

Neji had his usual cold look on although if you were to look more closely you could see that his eyes were a little colder than his face. He too was thinking the same things as Tenten about Gaara. Although he knew that the other boy was very strong, if he tried to hurt his teammate again he would take him down as fast and as hard as he could.

There was a heavy silence and then Gaara of all people walked towards Lee, everyone tensed up as the boy got close to the green clad genin. Gaara looked at the injuries that he had caused when he had been less than stable. Lee had given him one of the best battles in his young life, had pushed Gaara to his limits but in the end Gaara had not only beat Lee, he had taken away his ability as a ninja by the looks of it. He had tried to kill the boy until that older green glad ninja jumped in the way and had stopped his sand.

He remembered how the man had said that Lee was important to him and at that time he couldn't understand that. But now he did understand what the man had meant that day, and he also understood the full impact of what he had done. This was one of Naruto's friends and he had hurt Lee very badly, it left a bad feeling in the bit of his stomach. He hadn't felt that emotions since he was a little child when his sand would go out and hurt a child by accident. Gaara remembered getting medicine and offering it to the boy but that had not worked out as he had hoped.

Now looking at Lee he felt that same emotions all over again. He looked into Lee's eyes and said something that no one expected him to say.

"I'm...sorry," Gaara told him.

Everyone blinked in surprise, although Lee grew a small smile on his face.

"You don't have to do that," Lee smiled at him.

"What? Lee he, well he crippled you!" Tenten shouted at him.

"I know but we are ninja, in our line of work we enter battle knowing that something like this could happen or that we can die," Lee said with his full resolve in his voice. "I could have quit that match at any moment but I wanted to push myself to my limits, maybe even beyond my limits. We all knew that the chunin exams were dangerous when we entered as a team and I was fully prepared to die for my nindo."

Lee looked to Gaara again, "You are one of the strongest people I know and it was an honor to fight you...and I hope to do it again."

"What?" Gaara asked surprised as was everyone else there.

Lee gave Gaara a thumbs up with a smile, "Lady Tsunade has said that she is looking into my condition, I am sure that with her help I'll heal and when I do I hope we can have a friendly rematch one day."

Lee had been meaning to surprise his friends with the news later that day, hence why they were on their way to meet Gai, Lee wanted to tell his team all together but it would seem that he would have to tell Gai second. Although he was worried as Tsunade said that the treatment was looking dangerous but if he couldn't be a ninja then there wasn't anything else that Lee would want in life. He still had a dream to pursue and if he died in the pursuit of that dream, then so be it.

Naruto was all smiles at that, "Alright! I knew that Baa-chan wouldn't let us down, just you wait Lee, she'll make you better than ever!"

Tenten smiled and even Neji had a small smile on his face at that, it would be good to have Lee back.

Gaara himself wasn't sure how he felt but he felt better, unlike the boy that he had once hurt, Lee was forgiving him for what he had done. It made the bad feelings inside of him lessen and slowly replaced by something else.

"I would like that," Gaara told Lee.

"Then when I am ready we will have the most youthful match!" Lee shouted out. Gaara wasn't sure by what he meant by 'youthful' but he nodded anyway.

**Next up Chapter 7: Making Her Smile**


	7. Making her Smile

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 7: Making Her Smile**

For the past week things had been going okay with her life, Temari was getting used to the village although it was still not her home. After her brothers and Baki had left she had felt very alone even with sharing a home. But at least Naruto turned out to be decent company. She had been also started with the wind training with Naruto although he was starting to have some trouble with it. She did her best to explain it but it seemed that Naruto worked best with simple instructions and then he could get along fine enough.

In Suna when someone had wind elemental abilities you had to cut a rock with it. It wasn't easy as a rock was very tough but once you did that anything else was child's play. Basically you had to hold a rock in your hand and focus on the wind chakra and force it to cut the rock up. Temari had managed to do it after nearly six months of training she constantly made small cuts into her first rock over and over until it broke. Then she had to try and do it with less cuts each time until she could cut a rock with only one try.

She had found out that typically in this village you would use a leaf but it wasn't like there was much plant life in her home, you had to use what you could and with Naruto's huge chakra she felt that a rock would be better to get him to do it properly. He was more of a blunt fighter anyway and with wind jutsus at his disposal he could be very devastating in battle, after all wind wasn't called the battle element for nothing.

Besides that it was just slightly odd living in the Leaf village, she got some cold looks but she was prepared for it. Although she would admit that it was kind of lonely but she was used to that as well. After all most of her life her father had been cold and distant, her younger brother obsessed over his puppets, her youngest brother had until recently been completely insane. Baki had been more teacher than friend and because of her Gaara and her status she didn't have many friends.

But at least she was in her own village, here she didn't have the same sense of belonging that she had on her village. So she was currently lying on a small ledge looking outside the window of her room looking outside. She could smell the scent of the trees and flowers (she was surprised that Naruto actually gardened at least a little and had a hard time telling what was a weed and what was a plant) but she still missed the smell of desert lilies as well.

While she was at the window Naruto was up in his room getting all the supplies he needed for the day. His team had the day off and Tsunade suggested to him that on days off he might as well get to know Temari more. Well given what he heard of her childhood being just as lonely as his, only less fun it seemed. Well he was going to fix that up, he put his supplies into a sealing scroll and he wished he had known this before.

Knowing how to seal things up would have made his life so much easier and he was wondering why that was never taught in school? Maybe he'd ask Iruka next time he saw him, at any rate this would be a nice way of thanking Temari for showing him how to do it. He went in search of Temari as he had something planned out for the entire day, he found her in her room looking out the window. He paused for a moment as he just watched her, he guessed she was thinking about her home he would be if he was in her position.

"Hey, Temari?" He asked.

Temari looked over to him, "What's up?"

"You okay?" Naruto asked seeing the look of longing in her eyes.

"I'm fine," She said getting up and away from the window.

Naruto was silent a moment as he looked at her, she was putting up a false face which was something he had a lot of experience in. He knew the signs of someone that was hiding any kind of pain as he used that same mask himself a lot of the time.

"I know you miss your home and I'm sorry you had to leave it," Naruto told her bluntly.

Temari hadn't thought she looked that transparent but she just shrugged it off, "Not your fault, sometimes you just have to take what life gives you. Nothing can change it so I'm not going to let it dominate my life."

"You know you never said but what are the things you miss the most?" Naruto was genuinely curious. "I mean I know what I would miss if I had to leave but I've never been to Suna."

Temari shrugged, "well there is a few things, there was this nice coffee shop that served this great stuff there. I miss the sunsets that I could see on the mountain ranges, in the right season the sands can look like they're on fire for a moment. The way the west wind would bring the scent of desert lilies was also nice..."

Temari lost herself in her memories of her home, sure it was a bit 'desolate' compared to other villages but it was still her home.

Naruto could see the downcast look on her face and he figured that she really did need what he had planned out, plus he filed away those little pieces of information away for later as well. He went over and grabbed her hand surprising the taller blonde.

"What the hell!?" Temari asked being dragged through the home.

"Come on, you're coming with me." Naruto simply said as she nearly dragged her out the of the room, she barely managed to grab her fan before leaving as well. It wasn't that she was expecting trouble it was just that she always went everywhere with it.

It was when he finally stopped on the top of a building that she finally managed to get him to stop and explain. She wanted to know when why they had the day off he came and dragged her halfway across the village to some building looking around for someone.

Naruto grinned at her, "Well you said that you never got to have any fun in your life."

"I said I never had a normal childhood and for the record I did have fun at times," she said putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah but I doubt it was much, so I'm going to show you just how much fun you missed out on. One of the things I'm going to show you is how to pull pranks on people as well." Naruto told her taking out a scroll.

"This is stupid," Temari said turning around to leave.

"What you scared or just think that you can't pull one off?" Naruto challenged her. He saw her pause in mid step and he knew that she was a very proud girl and like a lot of proud people couldn't pass up a challenge to their pride, now he just needed to push her once more.

"Plus I guess the fact that the first target is Shikamaru means nothing huh?"

Temari turned around to see Naruto pointing in the distance. She took a long look and managed to spot the boy laying on some bench on the top of a building looking like he was sleeping of all things. An eyebrow started to tick on her head at that, she never did forgive him for that humiliation in the chunin exams. Their battle had been long but in the end he had out manoeuvred her the entire time, he had her in that shadow technique of his and what did he do? He gave up!

Sure she technically won but she didn't feel like it was a win, the fact that he didn't like to 'fight girls' and how work was too 'troublesome' was also very irritation to her. The boy was just so lazy and a bit sexist in her opinion, plus the fact that he was the only one promoted to chunin and he still shirked off the responsibility. If she had been made a chunin she would have honoured the position and not sat around sleeping the day away.

"What do you have planned?" she asked Naruto who just grinned a bit evilly.

He pulled out a sealing scroll and suddenly in a cloud of smoke lots of hot air balloons tied down and other balloons that looked like they were filled with water. There were more of the hot air ones than the water ones and she was wondering what he was thinking of.

"Can you make sure that these balloons float over him with your fan?" Naruto asked and then Temari suddenly got where this was going. She had a grin on her face as she quickly helped him to tie the hot air balloons to the water balloons.

Over with Shikamaru he was enjoying a restful day, sure he was supposed to show up for a mission assignment at the Hokage's office but she never did say when he had to show up. So he was taking his time enjoying the clouds as he liked to. He loved clouds, they were just so carefree and slowly did whatever they felt like doing, which was just floating along really.

He closed his eyes listening to the wind gently blowing, then the wind picked up a bit he didn't think much of it until a shadow fell across his face, he just thought a cloud got in front of the sun.

"Now!" Yelled out a familiar voice.

He opened his eyes just in time to see several suriken hit several balloons popping them, but then he noticed that several balloons were now falling which made no sense unless they were filled with...

Splash!

Shikamaru got up after the water balloons hit him and looked over seeing Naruto laughing his ass off with Temari who looked like she was enjoying herself.

"What the hell Naruto?" Shikamaru yelled over to him.

"Sorry, nothing personal just trying to show Temari the joys of pranking people, well got to go we got a lot more targets to hit," Naruto called out as he and Temari ran off.

Shikamaru sighed as he wiped the water off his face. He hated it when he got pulled into one of Naruto's pranks, sure they were fun when they happened to other people but not to him, although he will admit that was a unique one. But still why did he have to ruin his cloud watching? He managed to get out of some work for Tsunade for the day and then that happened and worse he seemed to have recruited Temari of all people to help. Those two blondes together seemed to be just so troublesome.

"Shikamaru, where the hell are you?" Ino's voice yelled out from nearby. "Lady Tsunade asked me to come looking for you for work!"

'_Damn it,'_ the young chunin sighed. _'Figures that she would send Ino after me.'_

"Shikamaru get out here now! I'm using my break time from the flower shop so you better get your lazy ass out here now or when I find you I'll use my mind transfer jutsu and make you walk to the Hokage's office myself!"

The thing was, he knew that she wasn't bluffing. He sighed as he got up off his spot as now his whole day was ruined.

"First Tsunade, then Naruto and Temari and now Ino," He muttered as he went to find Ino. "Why is it that besides my mom, the most troublesome people I know are blondes?"

"There you are, where the hell were you..and why are you all wet?" Ino asked him when he saw her. He just muttered something about troublesome blondes and went to the Hokage's tower.

**-Elsewhere-**

Hinata was walking the streets of her village she wasn't really caring much where she was going. Her team had finished off with a mission and she had said her farewells. She just wanted to be alone for the moment, ever since Naruto's announcement of his marriage she had been very depressed. She still broke down crying at times late at night in her room a few days, it just wasn't fair. She should have said something to him all those years ago but she wasted all that time because she had been so shy, she was still shy and she hated being like that. What if she had found the courage to admit her feelings? If she and Naruto had been a couple then would have the Hokage refused it?

Then there was the fact that her family would most likely not approve of Naruto, at least not before the chunin exams when he defeated Neji. She had seen how the village had changed a bit some people actually looked at Naruto without the cold looks although she still saw many that held whatever resentment they had. She never did figure out why so many people seemed to dislike Naruto so much. One of the reasons that she came up with was that maybe his family had fallen into some dishonour in the face of the village, it would explain much but she never heard of any Uzumaki family unless Naruto was the last.

She found herself at the park for some reason she stood there watching everyone having a fun time. She saw families there, children at play and she felt a wave of sorrow over her. Her family wasn't really that warm, they had to be the picture of perfection and nobility. Her own father trained her and her sister very hard because Hinata knew that the main branch had to be the strongest and she knew that she was a disappointment to the standards of her family. Although her father was cold he wasn't totally abusive to her, it wasn't like he hurt her physically but she did feel the pain of his disappointment in her.

He always would say that she needed to be stronger, and she knew that he didn't know that she had overheard what he had said to Kurenai on that day. She wanted to make her father proud of her to be stronger but she knew that she still had a ways to go. Looking at the children at play reminded her of her own lonely childhood she never had any friends really while growing up. Maybe that was one of the reasons she noticed Naruto at an early age, he was lonely just like she had been. He wanted to be noticed as well so he acted out and he trained himself so hard all the time. Hinata remembered the times she would secretly watch as he kept pushing himself long after others went home for the day.

"Hey, Hinata."

She jumped as she was broken out of her thoughts as she turned around to see Kiba there with Akamaru.

"K-Kiba-kun?"

"We've all been a bit worried about you lately," Kiba told her, "So I decided to see if you needed someone to talk to."

"T-thanks," Hinata said giving a small smile as she looked back to the playground. Many of the children were leaving with family it seemed for the moment.

Kiba stood beside her as she was looking over the playground wondering what she was looking at. He knew that she was really depressed over the whole marriage thing with Naruto. He never knew just how much she must have liked him until this whole thing turned up. He hated seeing her like this actually, she was just the most kindness person that he ever met. She didn't deserve to be miserable like this.

"So, what are you thinking about?" He asked.

"Just...just thinking about when I was younger."

Kiba thought about it for a moment, "You know I can't remember seeing you all that much outside of the academy."

Hinata jumped a bit as she looked down at her feet, he noticed the look and was worried.

"I just figured you had your own friends to play with," Kiba told her.

Hinata's mood got a bit darker, "I-I didn't really make friends until I was put on Team 10."

Kiba was surprised by that, he figured that she would have had some friends, or at least some in her own clan. But the look on her face told him otherwise. He couldn't remember seeing her playing with others when he was younger not that he looked for her. She was so quiet and she just blended into the background so much that you could easily miss overlook her. Now that they were put onto the same team he had taken notice of her, she had become his friend like Shino had and now he wished that he had been her friend when they were younger.

Well if he couldn't change the past he would at least give her something better for the present.

"Come on with me," Kiba said as he grabbed her hand and led her into the playground.

"K-Kiba-kun?" she asked.

"Let's just say I want to make up for you missing out on a few things." Kiba said as they got to a set of swings. He asked her to sit down and she nervously did although she did with a small smile. She knew that she might be a bit old for this but she never really got the chance to do something like this, in fact she had been too scared as a little girl to try it out. Kiba helped her when he figured out that she never been on a swing before so he got behind her and started pushing.

Hinata had to admit it was fun, she had never had a friend to push her on one of these things and the feeling she got when she got up made her feel funny in her stomach area but in a good way. She saw Akamaru running below her barking as he would try and jump up to tap her feet so she tried to move her feet like targets for the pup. She actually laughed a bit and Kiba had heard her giggle but never really laugh before, it was a nice sound actually and for some reason made him smile.

"Mommy aren't they a bit big for swings?" A little boy asked his mother as they passed by them.

The mother just smiled at her son, "Don't point Kenji, just leave the young couple on their date."

At the word 'date' both young teens froze up, and it didn't help that they froze with his hands resting on her hips. Both of them noticed this and blushed as Hinata jumped off the swings and Kiba put his hands behind him quickly. Both avoided looking at the other for a moment, Kiba just meant to cheer her up not make it look like he was dating her.

"So...uh...you know," Kiba wasn't sure what to say at the moment and Akamaru gave a small whine and turned away, the little guy wasn't going to help him out with this one it would seem.

"T-Thank you Kiba-kun," Hinata said quickly to avoid anything more embarrassing happened between them. She knew that he was just trying to cheer her up after all.

Kiba blinked and then smiled at her, "Sure no problem, just remember if you're ever sad or lonely me and Akamaru would be glad to help out." Akamaru barked to let her know that he agreed with his master.

Hinata smiled feeling a bit better now as she nodded her head.

**-Elsewhere-**

So far the blonde duo of Temari and Naruto had hit several targets throughout the day. Naruto felt good doing some pranks again he hadn't the time since he made genin after all and he was well overdue. After they hit Shikamaru they went onto the rest of the town as well. Anko had been about to enjoy her dango when she took her first bite her mouth nearly caught on fire, she went to drink all the water she could, apparently the server had been Naruto in a henge while Temari had put the hot sauce on the dango. Naruto had been meaning to getting back at Anko for cutting his cheek and freaking him out during the chunin exams. They later hit Kakashi, posing as a kid and their cat stuck in a tree, the jonin had left with several scratches on his mask because of it.

A couple of the more stuck up Hyugas from the main branch ended up with paints of all different colors all over them. A person who had made a anti-Suna remark against Temari ended up hanging upside down with their pants around their ankles.

A few other things as well before they took a break, they were resting on a bench and Temari had to admit she had a lot of fun, despite herself.

"See, told ya it was fun," Naruto said grinning at her.

"Okay, okay so you were right," Temari told him still smiling. It felt good in a way to cut loose, she never got the chance to do anything like that plus Naruto was very good at it. "How often did you do this?"

"Oh I used to prank people all the time," Naruto said proudly. "A few times I never even got caught, but my best prank was the one I pulled before I graduated."

"Do I want to know?" She asked in good humor.

"See that mountain range with the faces of all the Hokages?" Naruto asked her. "I painted it all up after an hour I had to get up early for that one but it was worth it."

"You didn't." Temari said both shocked and impressed that he was able to do that without anyone seeing him until it was done.

"I had jonins, chunins and ANBU chasing me for over an hour!" Naruto laughed and despite herself Temari gave a small laugh at that as well. She was starting to see that surprising people was a trait that Naruto had, she never would have done anything like that back home. Her father would have been so angry with her is she had painted up the side of the rock wall that shielded their village.

"Well if it isn't the dead last and the Suna girl," a slightly annoying female voice said and instantly Naruto's mood dropped.

He looked and was surprised to see two girls both of them had been in his class. One was Amy and he thought the other was named Haruka. Both of them were die hard members of the Sasuke fan club in fact Amy was kind of a bully in class and picked on others.

"Man I'm not surprised that you get the job of marrying this girl," Haruka said grinning.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked her angrily, he never liked these two.

"That of course the dead last would get chosen for such a horrible fate, I mean to marry this girl is laughable. She's just a peace offering so our village doesn't crush hers, although they certainly deserve it for betraying us like they did," Amy said in a dark tone.

"First off 'little girl'," Temari said standing up to her full height which was at least a foot taller than the other girl. "My father was murdered and replaced by Orochimaru and tricked us into his plans, and as for Naruto I don't know why you don't thank him as he's the one that save your village from my brother Gaara."

"Oh please like he could have done anything," Haruka said waving it away, "I bet he only got in Sasuke-kun's way when he fought."

"The Uchiha?" Temari actually laughed at that, "He couldn't land a blow on my brother and Naruto was the one that beat Gaara, I should know as I was there watching it all and let me tell you both something, he's a lot stronger than the Uchiha boy."

"I don't think so!" Amy yelled out at her. "No one is better than Sasuke-kun!"

"Yeah!" Haruka said.

"Come on Temari let's get out of here," Naruto said as he gently grabbed her wrist and led her away.

Temari was fuming it was bad enough a couple of arrogant bitches were bad mouthing her village, but how could Naruto stand that kind of verbal abuse like that? He was clearly stronger in her view, but why did those girls not know that? Maybe it was because they were blinded by their views of Sasuke Uchiha, she had seen this all too often in her own village. Girls like that made her sick as they weren't wroth being ninja in her opinions, and to top it all off they hadn't even been in the chunin exams, and Naruto had gotten into the finals on his first try. So there was no way they could look down at him as he had accomplished more than they most likely had.

She was about to demand why he didn't let her just trash those girls when she noticed the evil smirk on his face.

"What are you planning?" Temari narrowed her eyes.

Naruto's grin only grew, "Why fight them when we can just get even?"

Later that day Amy was walking through the village, she was still smirking about putting that Suna girl in her place, she would never forgive the Suna for what they had done. For one thing her home had been one of the buildings damaged and her family had to start over again. It wasn't fun and she had a lot of good memories of her home, she was about to see how her mother was doing when she froze in horror.

There not twelve feet away was Haruka and Sasuke of all people and they were hugging each other!

"Oh Sasuke-kun I'm so glad that you agreed to go out with me," Haruka smiled at the boy.

"I couldn't stand it anymore, you're the most beautiful girl in the village." Sasuke said.

"Better than Amy?"

"Oh please that hag couldn't compare to you, Haruka-chan." Sasuke said as she sighed.

"She is pretty ugly huh?" Haruka said as both laughed. They didn't see Amy as she had ducked around the corner of a building to hear them but she was gritting her teeth now. She couldn't believe that Haruka would say that about her let alone steal _her _Sasuke-kun.

"Meet me at the park in an hour okay?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure thing," Haruka said happily.

That was enough for Amy as she stormed off, if Haruka was thinking she was getting away with this then she had another thing coming. When she was out of site both Sasuke and Haruka smiled as in a puff of smoke there stood both Naruto and Temari.

"Okay we got one now we just need to get the other one," Naruto grinned as Temari matched it.

An hour later both Temari and Naruto were waiting in the trees for their targets, they had pretty much pulled the same stunt with Haruka so now they just had to wait for them to meet up and for the fireworks to start off. Temari had to admit this way of revenge was more work but it was a lot more fun, plus they couldn't get into trouble for it. While doing this she figured that her beating the hell out of a couple of genin (even if they had it coming) would look bad so this way both girls got what was coming to them and she and Naruto were just looking on being innocent of the whole affair.

"Hey I think I see target one," Naruto smiled.

"And there is the other one," Temari said pointing as the other was walking in the opposite way towards them.

When both girls saw each other it took only for a second before both of them grew furious seeing the other girl.

"You bitch!" both girls yelled out as they started the verbal fighting, this caused many on lookers. Both were saying how the other was a two timer, a bad stabber, and every other name they could think of. When one of them called the other a whore...well that was it. The fight became physical at that point as the girls went to the ground clawing at each other. This caused a few boys their age to stop, many started whistling and cat calling at the cat fight started up but a few chunins were in the area and pulled the girls apart eventually, although they were still kicking and screaming at the other while being held back.

"Well I was hoping they would be able to fight some more but over all I think it was good," Naruto said smiling.

Temari smiled and shook her head, "Remind me never to get you pissed off to prank me, in fact you ever do and I find out about it you better run."

Naruto smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head, "Oh come on I would never do that to you what kind of guy do you think I am?"

Temari gave him a deadpan expression as she pointed at the two girls and Naruto had to admit she made a good point.

"Okay I promise that I'll never prank you...at least nothing horrible like that." Naruto said as he wanted to make sure he could keep that promise.

"You better keep that promise," she said.

"Hey I always keep my promise, it's part of my ninja code," Naruto said proudly.

Temari gave a small smile, "Alright then, well let's eat."

"Alright! Race you to the ramen stand!" Naruto jumped out of the tree heading for his usual eating place.

"Huh, Naruto get back here!" Temari yelled out as she had to run after the boy, she had never agreed to ramen and if he got to that stand first she couldn't talk him out of it. They had eaten there last night and she was trying to get him to eat different foods, and for some strange reason she felt that he planned this part out as well.

She grinned as she chased after him, _'looks like you'll keep me on my toes Naruto.'_

She was looking forward to the challenge that he looked like he was going to give her in life. She thought Shikamaru was smart but Naruto took surprising to a whole new level.

**Next up Chapter 8: Mr. Nice Guy**


	8. Mr Nice Guy

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 8: Mr. Nice Guy**

Naruto was standing in the Hokage's office not even sure why he was called here. It had been after training when the message got to their team that he was to be called into the Hokage's office as soon as possible. He was kind of disappointed that he had to since Temari had loosened up a bit since the pranking they had done and he had been wandering if he could have found something else fun for them to do. She seemed a bit more settled into things as well although she was still a bit serious but he hoped that he could help with that.

But now he was standing in front of Tsunade's desk as she was going through a pile of papers that Shizune had put there.

"I can't believe how much paper work this job has," Tsunade muttered to herself. If she had known how much work this job had she might not have taken it.

"Someone arrested for public nudity, graffiti and above all two young kunoichi brawling in the streets," Tsunade told Shizune as she was looking over the incident reports of yesterday. "I tell you I don't remember things like that happening when I was in the village at least not this much happening."

Naruto suddenly froze as he started nervously sweating, those sounded like the pranks he and Temari had pulled. He swallowed hard as he quickly out of habit scanned for all the possible exits he knew that he'd have to make a quick getaway if he needed it.

Tsunade gave a look at Naruto, "Why are you so tense? Aren't things going well with Temari?"

Naruto suddenly realized that since she was so new at her job and to being back in the village his reputation for his pranks wasn't known to her, at least yet. He figured as long as he didn't say anything he was in the clear and then hoped that when she found out about his pranks she never thought back to this day.

"Oh yeah things are going okay, we're training really hard and she's showing me how to use wind nature although it's kind of hard. I have to split a rock with my wind chakra and so far I can just put scratches on it."

"Well nature elemental training was always pretty hard normally," Tsunade told him.

"Then how come Sasuke-teme managed to use two different types?" Naruto sulked a bit.

"Uh...well..." Tsunade looked to Shizune for help but she quickly made it look like she was busy with looking over the paperwork in her arms.

'Traitor,' Tsunade thought darkly to herself before looking at a waiting Naruto. "Well kids like Sasuke are rare and besides his clan was always good with fire elemental jutsus so since he already knows how to use an element it's easier once you find out what your secondary element affinity is."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Naruto thought to himself.

Tsunade was glad the explanation worked on him, she wasn't sure using the term 'genius' or 'prodigy' would work with someone like Naruto. But now it was time to get to why she called him into her office.

"So Naruto do you like Temari?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "I guess so, I mean she's teaching me some cool stuff, it's nice not living alone anymore and thanks for the new home by the way. She's kind of strict at times but I think I know how to loosen her up some."

Tsunade sighed, "That's not what I meant, and do you find her attractive?"

"W-what?" Naruto said blushing a bit.

"Naruto have you even tried to go on a date with her yet?" The older blonde asked the younger.

"Why would I? I mean we're getting married so what's the point?" Naruto asked honestly.

Tsunade felt like slamming her head into the desk at that point, how he could be so short sighted was beyond her. She had been hoping that he would make an effort to at least court the girl so that that something could develop but Naruto had no plans at all for it.

"Naruto just answer the question do you think she's attractive?"

"W-well I guess so," Naruto admitted.

"Look Naruto, you really don't want to be put into a loveless marriage do you? Maybe at least make an effort to take her out for a date or something. You never know, something might happen and it would be better if you could love each other eventually as well."Tsunade said gently to him. "I know this is hard but it will make this easier in the long run at least, plus it will make you both happier as well."

Naruto looked down thinking about it, he never really did think about his life over the years. He might be able to live with just a marriage without love but in all honestly it wasn't something to look forward to either. Naruto had to make a lot of changes in his life, some easier than others. He had done his best to give up on his quest to win Sakura over to him, although a part of him still cared for her and he doubt he would totally get over it. But was it really fair to live an entire life without trying to find some kind of love? Plus what about Temari, did she deserve the same fate?

He thought about his future wife, he would admit that physically she was pretty good. Her long legs were nice and he remembered how she looked coming out of the show with her hair all wet like that, he gulped at the memory. Okay sure he found her physically attractive and they were getting along, she had the same work ethic as him too which was nice.

"Well I guess I could try," Naruto wondered out loud.

Tsunade smiled, "So what kind of plans do you have for her?"

"Well...I'm not sure I mean I never had a date do either of you have any ideas?"

Tsunade thought about it, it was better to get advice from them then someone like Jiraiya if he found out that he was looking for advice. "Well treat her nice, I mean take her out to dinner, or just for a walk. I remember a date with Dan, he showed up with my favourite flowers and we walked to his favourite spot. It was this little bridge overlooking a lake just as the sun was setting."

She sighed remembering those days, "It was a beautiful moment and he would tell me how lucky he felt that he found me and said how he admired my abilities, my strength and my beauty."

Tsunade sighed as a bit of a sadness hit her she missed him so much at times. He was the only man that she allowed herself to fall in love with but the pain of his death was just too much for her. She had stood over him, covered in his blood trying to save his life but she couldn't, she couldn't save her little brother who died on his first mission away from the village and she couldn't save him even when she was there.

Shizune looked on in sympathy for Tsunade and the fact that Dan had been her uncle too, her parents had died when she was young and Dan had taken her in and when he had died, Tsunade had taken her in after that. After that they had spent the years looking after each other and was the closest thing to family she had in the world. She looked over at Naruto who was like a lovable kid brother to her lately.

"Naruto-kun, just remember that girls like to be treated well, complimented and try to be romantic if you can. Holding hands is a nice way to start and don't forget to be a gentleman either like holding a door open for her, pulling out a seat for her or paying for the meal." Shizune added.

"And when was the last time you went out on a date?" Tsunade asked with a sly smile.

Shizune flinched at that, "I-It's not my fault, I just like a certain type!"

"Shizune if you keep those high standards you'll never find a man," the Hokage joked as Shizune hung her head in slight depression. She hadn't even been with a man in two years and she hadn't found the time to date in a long time. Naruto noticed the downward look on a woman that was like an older sister to him and he didn't like it.

"Well she might have had the time if you didn't drag her all over the place and running from all the people you owe money to, or dragging you home after you got drunk, baa-chan." Naruto told the other blonde who had the good graces to blush at the mention of her less than honorable moments in her life. Shizune gave a small smile to the boy for sticking up for her and he did have a point too. With all the running around she had barely the time to date, hell she had left the village as a teenager and she still remembered that horrible night she decided to lose her virginity to a boy she met on the road in this village they had stopped at one night.

That hadn't been a good time for her and she was glad when they left it far behind, thankfully the very few men she found later on were much better but she had never found 'Mr. Right' while on the road. Maybe it was something that she could finally get around to doing now that she was now living in one spot all the time.

Tsunade coughed trying to get her dignity back, "Well anyway try and at least make an effort with making a relationship, above all I just want you to be happy the best way I can."

Naruto gave her one of his smaller but sincere smiles at that last part, it was good to know that there were people now that actually cared about him. Plus maybe he should at least try things out with Temari after all they would be living their entire lives with each other.

**-Later-**

Naruto went walking around the village trying to figure out things that Temari would like, so far he knew a few things about her and he was trying to figure out something nice that he could get her. Something that reminded her of her home would be perfect but looking around there wasn't much he could find, plus he didn't know all that much of Suna to being with other than what she had said and it was in a dessert. It was on his wondering that he noticed a flower shop and he suddenly was hit by an idea. He grinned widely as he ran to the store hoping they would be able to help him.

Inside the shop there was Ino Yamanaka, her mother had asked for help with the store today and since her team wasn't doing anything she was the one currently working the counter. She didn't mind it, she loved flowers and knew all kinds of information about them plus she had been helping with the family business for years anyway. Today hadn't been too bad, it had a few slow periods but overall there had been enough people coming in so she wasn't bored, she hated the slow days as it just seemed to drag on and she would rather train than just sit there doing nothing.

Plus after her match with Sakura in the chunin exams she had taken to thinking that she needed to train more, she had always been the stronger ninja but Sakura had beaten her to a tie and it was a wakeup call in a way. Although the other good thing that came out of it was that their old friendship had started to be repaired.

The door opened up with the familiar door chimes.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, how can I help you?" She asked just on instinct before looking at the door.

"Ino?"

The blond looked over and was surprised to see Naruto of all people.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean, this is my family's shop didn't you know that?" Ino asked.

"Uh..." Naruto actually didn't know that as he didn't really read the sign he just saw the flowers and figured to go in. Plus he never knew that Ino's family owned a shop at any rate.

Ino rolled her eyes and sighed, "Well what can I do for you anyway?"

"Oh right!" Naruto remembered why he came in here for. "Do you have any dessert lilies?"

Ino blinked surprised by that, "I'll have to check that's kind of a rare flower for here as it's not really native to our climate. But give me a moment and I'll see if I can find it."

Naruto smiled broadly hoping that Ino had the flower, while she went into the back Naruto looked around. There were so many different types of flowers in fact he hadn't know that there were so many flowers in the world as he looked around. When Ino came back she was carrying a potted plant.

"Well you're in luck this is the only one we had," Ino said as she put it on the counter, "why did you want such a rare plant anyway?"

"Well it's for Temari," he told her getting his frog wallet.

"Oh?" Ino said getting interested in this now, "So giving flowers to a girl is a major thing. You like her or something?"

"Uh, well, it's just that, well...I was told by Tsunade-baachan that maybe I should try dating Temari before the wedding. These are actually her favourite flowers so I figured it would be a good start."

"I'm surprised at you, I never figured you for someone that would be so romantic so where are you taking her, and please tell me you are not wearing that." She pointed at his clothing.

Naruto frowned and looked at his favourite jump suit, "What's wrong with this?"

"Where do I start?" Ino said dryly, "Look you want some advice for dating from a girl's point of view?"

Naruto thought about it, he didn't really know what he was doing but any helpful advice was good. Shizune and Tsunade had helped him out but he really wanted to get all the help he could get as he wanted this to go really well. Plus it wasn't like he knew many girls that could help him out as well.

"Okay, so what do I need to know?" Naruto asked her eagerly.

Ino smirked as for the next few hours Naruto got more than he bargained for.

**-Temari's Room-**

Temari sighed as she placed her battle fan against the wall and sat down, she had done some extra training with her fan to kill the afternoon and now she felt a bit tired. She looked in her mirror and her eyes went to the picture of her and her brothers. She had taken it before she left the village, in it she was giving a small smile, Kankuro was smirking and Gaara...well he looked as neutral as ever but you could tell he was more relaxed in the picture.

Placed near it was her old forehead protector, sometimes she would trace the outline of the symbol put on it as a reminder of where she came from. Not that she really needed it but it helped to ease the small pain of being away from home. She sighed and closed her eyes and for a moment she thought she could smell the scent of desert lilies.

'Wait a minute,' she thought as her eyes opened up. The smell was way too strong for a memory and she looked around and there by the window was a potted plant with of all things her favourite flowers. She sat there shocked and dumbfounded for a moment before going to it. She saw there was a card along with it and took it as she read it.

'_Hey Temari I hope you like the flowers I know you like them, if you're not doing anything you want to go out tonight? I want to take you someplace special to me I'm getting some things ready just in case so I'll be back before four.'_

She smiled as it was sighed Naruto at the end, she had to admit this was one of the nicest things someone had done. She sniffed the flowers enjoying their scent it was a very thoughtful gift and she had to admit that she liked it. She looked back at the note and then read the last part over again as something hit her.

'_Is he asking me out?'_ Temari thought looking at the wording. It sounded like it although she supposed it could have been taken the wrong way but why would he ask her out when they were already going to be married.

Unless maybe the boy actually liked her and wanted to ask her out that made Temari's cheeks blush a bit mainly due to the fact that no one had even had the courage to ask her out before.

'_Maybe I'm just reading too much into it,'_ Temari thought to herself but just in case she went to shower and change her clothing. She decided to pick something that was nice and yet not too nice, she wanted to look good because they were going out but not too much in case it wasn't a date. By the time she was finished she was in a black version of one her dress that she wore when she first came to this village. There were a few differences but it still held a skirt and she wore a different pair of the leg stockings, a matching set on her legs that covered her legs. She decided just a slight shade of lip stick would be good enough and nothing else.

She checked the clock and found that she was going to run late and she was anything but someone that was late. Temari debated taking her fan but she doubted she would need it this time and went downstairs.

Naruto had been waiting hoping that Temari would agree to this then he heard someone coming down the stairs and looked up. As she came down the stairs he had to admit that she really was pretty, and black somehow looked good on her. He was glad that he took some of the advice that Ino told him and changed himself seeing how Temari looked a bit better than normal.

He had gotten rid of his favourite orange jump suit and went with some of the few clothing he did have that wasn't that. He found an old pair of jean shorts and he wore his black t-shirt with the orange swirl marking on it. He also put away his headband for it as well.

Temari gave a small smile seeing Naruto out of his orange suit he looked different when not wearing that suit of his plus his hair looked a bit more wild without the headband there. She made a mental note to try and get him some more clothing one of these days.

"Thanks for the flowers," Temari told him.

He gave a huge grin as he scratched the back of his head, "Glad you were happy with them I know how you missed your home and stuff and remembered how you talked about those flowers."

"Well you didn't have to go to all the trouble but thanks anyway. So what is this thing you had in mind for us?"

"Well...uh..." Naruto didn't think this would be so hard after all they were going to be married right? But he could feel his face heating up a bit, "I just thought that we should try and...well, date."

Temari raised an eyebrow at that she really hadn't thought about it. Although it wasn't like she had any experience with dating given her family no one had been brave enough to go and ask her out, so she ended up just giving up on dating and focused on her ninja training. Then the next thing she knew she was getting married and figured she would never have to go through it all. But now Naruto was asking her out on a date?

She felt a bit touched that he would ask that and was glad she dressed up a bit. She might as well try it as she figured this might be the only date she ever got in life.

"Alright, so what do you have in mind?" She asked surprising Naruto.

"Well come on I wanted to show you a special spot of mine," He told her as he grabbed a few items that he had fixed up for it.

They eventually ended up on the Hokage monument on the top of the Fourth's head. Temari had to admit that the last thing she thought he would take her was up here and also that he would be making a picnic of all things, she watched as Naruto set things up. Temari was also wondering if they were even allowed to do this and kept looking to see if any ANBU would be coming any minute to take them away.

"Hey it's all ready," Naruto called to her.

'_Well if we're going to jail for this then we might as well get something to eat,'_ Temari thought as she sat down next to him. Overall it was a nice set up and the view was nice up here, she looked at the food and it looked pretty good in fact it looked better than what Naruto normally cooked. She was wondering how he was able to cook so well until she noticed something in the basket.

"So you cooked this yourself?" she asked him.

"Oh yeah, I sure did. Pretty good huh?" Naruto asked her smiling proudly.

"Oh yeah if I didn't know any better I would have sworn this was store bought stuff," Temari told him giving him a sly smile.

Naruto stiffened a bit and gave a nervous laugh, "What? No way, why would you say that?"

Then Temari got a small smile and pulled out a cup that had a store brand name on it, Naruto gulped nervously as he mentally cursed himself for getting careless. He had thought he had managed to get rid of all of the things that would have shown where he bought the food.

"Don't worry about it," Temari told him putting it away, "it's the thought that counts anyway."

Naruto chuckled nervously, "Sorry I just wanted to make his nice, this is actually my first date with a girl."

"Well it's my first time too so don't sweat it." She said.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, "How come? I mean you're smart, strong and...well...pretty. So how come you haven't been on any dates before?"

She actually blushed a bit when he said she was pretty, no boy had actually done that before that she could think of. She looked down at her food to avoid him seeing it as she thought if she should tell him. In the end she decided she might as well and told her of how the boys were too intimidated by her to ask her to date. Naruto actually looked sad for that, he never figured that someone with a family could still be lonely and he could tell. From the way she talked about her childhood he could just tell, after all he had a lonely childhood himself and maybe that was why he could see that part of her as she was talking.

Naruto then brightened up, "Well then I guess I'll just have to make it up to you by giving you the best dates I can do." Then he looked a little uncertain, "That is if you still want to."

"Well...so far it's been nice," Temari said not sure what she felt about it. "Let's just play it by ear then. So this is your special spot huh?"

"Yeah," Naruto's face took on a more serious look as he looked over the village. "I sometimes come up here when I need to get away or to think. Plus looking over the village reminds me of my dream."

"To be Hokage." Temari stated.

Naruto nodded his head. "I originally wanted to be Hokage for people to recognize me and respect me but I learned that to be Hokage means more than that. It means that you put your life on the line to protect everyone in the village, and I know I'm not the smartest or the most well liked, but this is still my home and I'll do everything to protect this village and my precious people."

As he was talking the sun was setting down over the city casting a light over the area and from her viewpoint Naruto almost looked like he was bathed in light for a moment. The way the light hit him as he looked over the village for some reason captivated her as she listened to him.

"I promised myself that I would become greater than any of the other Hokages, to protect my precious people and to ensure that everyone in the village is protected and I always keep my promises, it's my nindo my way of the ninja.

'_He really means it,'_ Temari thought as she just stared at the genin in front of her. The look of intensity in his eyes were like a fire-no more like a maelstrom. That was the perfect thing for this boy, he was full of energy and power, he was unrelenting and never let anything get in his way. She remembered his fights against Gaara and how he had learned the Rasengan as well, there was so much potential in the boy and for some reasons she felt drawn to it. It was like a burning sun, full of light and power and above all warmth.

She felt her cheeks heat up slightly but then the light started to die down and the magic of the moment went with it. She controlled herself before he noticed and as they continued on she had to admit that he had got her interest. He was certainly not like other boys and maybe being married to him might not be so bad after all. It was still too soon to tell but for the first time she had hope that this wouldn't be so bad an arrangement.

Naruto was glad that the first date had gone well, she had seemed to enjoy herself and it had been nice. He was happy that his first real date had gone so well, he had kept expecting something to go wrong but besides the fact she found out his little secret with the food it hadn't been so bad. They had finished up and cleaned things up on his insistence (odd for a boy that once painted up the heads) but he had a new found respect for the Hokages since the Third had died and he wanted to keep it clean.

It was late by the time they got back and he was glad to see her actually smiling a bit so he guessed that she had enjoyed herself. He was about to put the basket away when he had to say goodnight to Temari first.

"So I hope you enjoyed tonight," Naruto said a little nervously.

Temari gave him a small smile, "Yeah it was fun."

"So...maybe you'd like to do it again sometime after all?"

To his surprised she bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "I think I'll enjoy it, goodnight."

Naruto was blushing all over his face that was the first kiss he got from a girl. He was too stunned to say anything as Temari took pleasure in the fact she seemed to have that effect on him, after all it was nice for a girl to know she could get that kind of reaction out of a boy she was going to spend her life with. She walked away as she grinned at a thought to put a little extra sway in her hips as she walked up the stairs.

Naruto couldn't help but look as she walked up, a small drop of blood was threatening to fall out of his nose. He quickly shook himself._ 'Damn it, stop acting like Ero-Sennin!'_

Naruto went to put away the picnic stuff, and also maybe take a small cold shower as well.

**Next up Chapter 9: Thinking About You**

**Sorry for being so late my laptop was having trouble and I needed it to get fixed I just got it back yesterday and thankfully all my stories weren't lost.**


	9. Thinking of You

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 9: Thinking About You**

It had been a few days since their first date and so far things were going well with the two soon to be married couple. Sure there were the few things like how sometimes they had to race to get to the good bathroom, Temari telling him that he should stop throwing things around at random places and putting them away properly, Naruto also didn't like how she had so many products out on the sink all the time and also how she didn't let him eat enough ramen. But even with the small issues they managed to get through them after all life wasn't perfect.

With the team training and going out on a simple dinner date things between them were slowly growing. At the moment they were in their backyard as she was helping him with wind training. Both were sitting down as he had a rock between his hands trying as hard as he could to cut it in two. It just wasn't that easy, the rock was pretty solid and he was finding it difficult to keep his wind element stable.

"Aw damn it!" Naruto yelled out as he lost his concentration again.

Temari sighed, she wished that Naruto would learn some patience the boy kept expecting to get everything done right on the first try.

"Naruto, how many times have I told you to relax? You can't just keep going at it without thinking or concentrating."

"I'm trying!" Naruto snapped out glaring at the rock in his hands.

"Don't snap at me mister just because you're frustrated," Temari said slightly angry.

Naruto sighed and nodded, "Sorry, I didn't mean it but it's just so hard. I mean how come I did shadow clones in one night and the Rasengan in a month but not get anywhere with this?"

"Well first off," Temari started to explain. "From what Kakashi said you're unique when it comes to shadow clones. Even I haven't even tried to learn that one yet. Now as for Rasengan, well maybe you're more talented with shape manipulation, plus this isn't supposed to be easy anyway."

Temari got up and got behind him and laid her hands on his shoulders, she felt him tense up in surprise at the contact. "Just relax okay, you can't do this if you're all tense."

Naruto swallowed as he tried to calm his mind but it was kind of hard to do at the moment. He tried not to think of her hands and how light their touch was against him or that fact he could smell the scent of her hair as she was this close to him. A girl had never been this close to him and he was a little nervous about it but he tried to push that aside and think of wind chakra. She had explained how it was supposed to feel and the 'shape' he was supposed to have in his mind about it.

As his mind was wondering he heard a small crack and looked startled at his hands. He saw a small crack had formed in the rock and he got a huge smile on his face.

"Hey look I did it!" Naruto said showing her the rock.

"You cracked it, it's a step in the right direction but don't get cocky yet," she told him with a smirk. She straightened up stretching out her back. "I think I'll go in and relax in some nice hot water."

"Okay, I'll want to keep at this for a bit longer," Naruto smiled as he went back to his work.

Temari wasn't surprised, Naruto trained to the point that went beyond what a normal person would do. In fact she was actually starting to push herself as well, his attitude seemed to be a bit infectious with her plus she didn't want to be left behind either.

As she went into the house, Naruto looked at his rock and kept on trying to picture how wind natured chakra was supposed to be and feel it out. He wanted to cut the rock in half soon so he could start learning all kinds of kickass wind elemental jutsus. He lost track of how long he was into his training but so far he couldn't get the hang of it. He tried to relax but each time he failed at getting the results the more frustrated he got.

After awhile he took a break as he glared at the rock, it was like it was mocking him but he would show it who was boss.

"So how have you been kid?"

Naruto jumped and turned around to see Jiraiya standing behind him. Naruto hadn't seen the old pervert in awhile and smiled a bit seeing him.

"Things are going good, Ero-sennin," Naruto said.

The Toad Sage scowled a bit, "Damn it how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?"

Naruto just ignored it and held up his rock, "Look, I managed to get it to crack. A bit more training and I'll be able to learn all kinds of kick ass moves."

Jiraiya stood closer as he looked at the rock, it wasn't much for progress but for a boy his age to be learning to do elemental training after shape training was impressive. But he also didn't want to give the kid a swelled head, the boy already had problems with that and he needed to learn to keep that in check.

"Not bad but you still got a lot of work ahead of you," He could see Naruto looked a bit disappointed. "So then how are things going with that Suna girl? Anything interesting?"

Naruto was surprised by the sudden change in topic as he scratched the back of his head. "Well...Tsunade-baachan wants me to take her on dates to get to know her more."

Jiraiya chuckled a bit, he never knew his old team mate liked to play match maker. "So how have you been doing on that front?"

Naruto blushed a bit as he went through the dates they had so far, he talked about the first one on top of the Hokage Monument. Naruto thought back to that date and he had to admit that she was pretty that day and he also remembered how she walked up those steps causing him to blush at the memory. When he was talking about the others he suddenly heard perverted giggling and scratching noises.

He turned to see Jiraiya was grinning as he was scribbling down notes.

"What the hell!?" Naruto yelled at him.

"Hey don't stop now," Jiraiya said as he kept on making notes. "This is good stuff kid, I didn't know you had it in you. You keep this up and I think I'll make my next book on this. Ah, I can see it now, Icha Icha Princess, the story of a boy trying to win the heart of an exotic princess from another land to prevent a war. It will have action, adventure, romance and it could be my next big seller."

"You're not making one of your perverted books about me and Temari!" Naruto yelled as he tried to grab the notes.

"Come on kid, I'll cut you in for a percentage then," he told the boy as he tried to keep his notes.

"Give me that!" Naruto yelled out.

**-Inside-**

Temari was enjoying the hot water, the way it soothed her made her wish that Suna had enough water to spare for something like this. Although this was their small personal onsen she didn't dare go in naked, she had bought a small bathing suit to use when she was in here. Besides what if company came over or what if Naruto walked in on her? That incident with the shower had been embarrassing enough. She blushed remembering that moment, sure they were going to be married but that didn't mean she was ready to have any man see her naked just yet.

She took the time to relax and think on things, so far it wasn't so bad how things were going in her life. It was still strange and she knew she might never totally get used to living in this village but it was getting better. Another thing she was thinking about was Naruto, the boy kept on surprising her. He wasn't all that bright at times and yet he could do something insightful as well. In some areas he was weak but in others he was so far ahead of everyone it just made no sense to her logical mind. Maybe that was why she was starting to find him so interesting, he was like a living puzzle and everything she felt she was getting close to solving it, Naruto would do something that would change all of that.

Another thing was that he treated her pretty well, she had been expecting when she heard of this whole arrangement to act the perfect house wife. A fate she would have hated and most likely had rather killed herself within the year but he never once told her to do anything, he always asked her first. Plus apparently he had a thing about being put into place by strong female types.

With how Sakura popped him on the head and how Tsunade threw something at his head for the few times she had seen when he just barged into her office and called her 'baachan', Temari was starting to think the boy was a masochist. On the bright side with all of that she could control him when he got out of line. Although at times he could be very stubborn person as well.

Her mind when to their dates that they had and she was surprised at how much she enjoyed her time with the boy, Temari had never had the chance for a dating life but so far Naruto was making up for it. He tried so hard that it was very sweet as well.

"Damn it Ero-sennin!"

Naruto's loud voice broke her out of her calming thoughts as she heard an argument going on outside. Her left eye twitched a bit at being disturbed. She gave a small growl of annoyance and picked up a towel and quickly dried herself off as she put it around her waist to go see what the problem was. She made it to the backdoor and moved it open and there was Naruto wrestling with some old man over some kind of papers.

"What the hell is going on here?" She demanded angrily.

Naruto jumped in surprised and Jiraiya took the opportunity to get back his previous notes. Naruto scowled at him as he started to answer Temari.

"Ero-sennin here was being a pervert again, he wanted to..." He trailed off as he went to look at her. There was Temari slightly wet, her hair still damp and hung down close to her face, she only had on a towel and a swimming top on that he could see. He blushed deeply as he had never seen her with so much skin showing.

Jiraiya on the other hand noticed the boy's look and had to admit the girl was a lovely young thing, pity she was too young for him. He slapped the boy on the back hard enough to cause the boy to fall forward. "Nice catch gaki, you got a real winner with that one."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean and who the hell are you?" Temari demanded.

"Ah allow me to introduce myself," Jiraiya got into his usual stance as he became the weird dance of his. "I am the sage of mount Myobokuzan, the Toad Hermit, the one that the ladies adore and swoon over his charm and power. I am one of the Legendary Three, I am Jiraiya the Sannin!"

Temari blinked a couple of times, then four times and then five more times before she said anything.

"You're...supposed to be _the_ Jiraiya?" She said deadpanned. She just couldn't understand why the Leaf village seemed to have the most bizarre collection of ninja in the entire world.

"That I am my dear, and you must be the Temari girl that my new apprentice is going to marry," Jiraiya was already taking notes in his head to make the princess in his story a blonde with a fiery temper. Although many might confuse the character with another character of his; Ayane (which was based on Tsunade), well nothing a little editing of the character couldn't fix.

"I am," Temari told him. "So what's all this about?"

At that Naruto snapped out of his daze seeing Temari in that state of dress and pointed accusingly at Jiraiya. "He was going to make one of his perverted books about us and I was trying to stop him."

"His what?" Temari glared at the man.

"Ero-sennin, is the guy that writes those books that you see Kakashi-sensei reading," Naruto told her crossing his arms over his chest.

Temari got an angry tick on her eye as she glared at the old man. Jiraiya after a life time of knowing Tsunade had developed an instinct about angry women. He could already see that this girl shared a few of his team mates attributes (although it was too bad that Tsunade's most visual appealing attributes weren't there for Naruto to enjoy) but the anger this woman had was just like Tsunade.

Temari was coming to terms with marrying Naruto, leaving her village and living here but having one of those perverted books written about her was crossing a line. There was no way she could hold her head up high if people found out about that and her reputation could be ruined. Now she really wished she had her battle fan handy as she had an urge to slam it into his skull.

"Got it!" Naruto shouted as he managed to snag the notes from Jiraiya's hand while he was busy with Temari.

"Damn it, that could be my best work yet you brat!" Jiraiya yelled out as he started to chase Naruto around the yard.

"I don't think so," Naruto yelled out as he made his favourite hand seal and a suddenly a large amount of white smoke showed up. When it was gone there were at least over a dozen Narutos as they ran off in different directions. Jiraiya cursed as he picked one out and started to chase it. They all left the back yard and Temari smirked as she had to admit, Naruto came up with a good plan, and was further impressed when a rock suddenly turned back into Naruto.

He was grinning happily as he used his shadow clones to get rid of Jiraiya while he had turned into a rock.

Temari came up behind him, "Nice that should keep him busy for awhile, how long do your clones last anyway?"

Naruto wondered about it as he shrugged, "I have no idea usually I get rid of them or they hit something."

Then he turned around and blushed as he was face to face with Temari, and given their difference in height he had a good view of her chest. His eyes were just drawn to the cleavage in front of him and he couldn't look away. Temari suddenly noticed what he was looking at and quickly crossed her arms.

"Hey, eyes up!" She yelled and Naruto took a step back.

"S-sorry! I didn't meant to!" Naruto said as both teens were blushing hugely.

"Hentai!" Temari shouted as she started to chase Naruto around as he started to run from her.

What they didn't know was that in one of the trees Jiraiya was watching them. He giggled as he was writing down on a spare note bad, if Naruto could think he could get one on him after years of being a pervert the boy was in for a surprise. He let the boy think that he had grabbed the real notes and chased a clone just long enough to get out of sight. He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the two and his mind was reminded of a similar moment between Naruto's parents.

Minato had accidentally crashed into Kushina and a hand had landed on a breast, that girl had chased the poor boy all over the village before she caught him. He giggled as he started to write down more scenes, he couldn't wait to get this book out.

**-Elsewhere-**

Kakashi Hatake was having a hard time although you would never know it from just looking at him. He was sitting in his small apartment trying to read his book but he just kept on reading the same page over and over again. He eventually put it away as he sat up and sighed. He was both happy and not so happy with how things were turning out for his team, Temari was helping both Naruto and Sakura in ways he never expected. She was helping both with their taijutsu and he was helping out here and there as well with hints and improvements. Temari's training in wind elemental was going to help Naruto out a lot as well when he got the hang of it. Kakashi also managed to get a couple of water elemental jutsus for Sakura to start training in as he could help her out with that.

The only major problem was Sasuke, the boy was being more withdrawn and his quest for power had only gotten worse since that curse mark. In fact the boy's behaviour had changed a lot since the Forest of Death and not in the good way. The boy had been coming along and if things had kept as they were he might have started to open up and changed for the best. But Orochimaru had ruined that and now the man was after the boy.

Sasuke already was one of the strongest genin, knew two different elemental attacks which was something someone didn't learn until they made jonin, but it still wasn't enough it would seem. He wanted to learn shape manipulation but he wanted Sasuke to learn other things before that. Like what it meant to be part of a team and that he didn't have to go through it all alone.

Plus he had already spent a month training Sasuke and he needed to round out the team more before he could even consider that but Sasuke wasn't the patient type.

Kakashi looked at the window and he saw the plant that Naruto have given him awhile back, he smiled at how the boy had grown it himself and given it to him. Kakashi had gotten a book on plants to make sure he took care of it as well, as a present from students should be honoured. He was glad that Temari was helping him out as the boy needed the extra help as his schooling was lacking in the academy, he was secretly glad when Naruto got Iruka as a teacher.

Sakura he definitely needed to get that girl someone that could be a role model for her, she could become great if she was become more serious as a ninja and she could go far. Temari was already an impressive ninja but her weakness was her weakness in closer quarters so far.

But then his mind ran back to Sasuke and how that seal was on him. That counter seal that he had put on Sasuke would only work with the power of that person's will but there were two facts that were also in play. The first being that he wasn't a seal master like the Fourth of Jiraiya were, sure he knew more than most but he wasn't an expert. The other thing was that the curse seal was Orochimaru's personal design and no one other than him knew all that much about it.

Maybe if he knew something more about it then he could help out more and make sure that Sasuke's mark was totally repressed, but the only person that knew anything was a missing nin that would not help out. Then he suddenly remembered that there was another person he could ask, that is if she wanted to.

Kakashi got his vest and put it on, more out of habit than anything else, and jumped out his window and started his search. Hopefully she was still in the village and not on some mission, he knew a bit about the ninja in question but not much. He respected her skills and he had worked with her a few times in the past, sure she was a bit eccentric but she wasn't that all that bad, she just liked to have some fun.

Unfortunately besides a few things and that she was close friends with Kurenai, there wasn't much he knew of the younger woman. It wasn't until an hour later when he felt like he would have to seek out Kurenai for information that he found his target. There she was coming out of a dango shop, eating the last of said treat.

Anko had been having a nice relaxing break so far, nothing major was going on with all the reconstruction going on. Thankfully her apartment had survived being crushed by a giant snake, the buildings next to hers not so much so she needed to get out when the construction started. There was just no way for her to sleep in or relax with all that racket going on, but at least she wasn't homeless like some of the more unfortunate ones.

She had spent the day shopping for some new supplies, some food and looking for something interesting to wear as well. Hopefully there might be a mission soon as she was starting to get a little bored though, something to at least keep things interesting.

"Hello there Anko."

She stopped at the smooth and relaxed voice behind her as she turned to see one, Kakashi Hatake behind her. She grinned seeing the man, he defiantly was looking to make things interesting as Kakashi was never boring. Plus he had that little fire cracker on his team as well.

"So what is it?" Anko asked him to the point.

Kakashi gave an amused smile, "Glad to see you too, but honestly I need your help with something that only you can do."

Now Anko was smiling a bit more, "What's the name, and do you want that person still breathing?"

"Nothing like that," Kakashi told her and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I need your help for a student of mine."

Anko blinked and thought about it for a second, "Oh, which one?"

"Sasuke," Kakashi said in a more serious tone.

Now Anko's mood took a bit of a darker turn, she knew all about what had happened in the Forest of Death between her old teacher and Sasuke and she knew his plans for the Uchiha. She suddenly felt a brief twitch where her own curse mark was on her neck. She shifted a little as her shoulder rolled but Kakashi caught it.

He nodded as he saw her eyes, "Yeah, I need your help with his curse seal. I don't know enough about it and I'm afraid that the counter seal I put on isn't working that well."

"Counter seal, there's a counter and no one told me?" Anko said a little more dangerously.

Kakashi held up his hands in defence, "I had to rush to put it on and I wasn't sure how well it would work. Plus he seemed to be having a hard time with it and I never seen you have any issues with yours so I assumed it was fine. I'm also surprised that the Third never mentioned it as I did report it to him."

Anko let a deep sigh go as she let her anger go as well. She knew better than that and if there was a problem with the boy's than it might not work well with her anyway. But still it stung a bit that the old man never told her that Kakashi was experimenting with a counter. Sure her own seal didn't always activate but she had to constantly be on guard if it ever did. And the few times it did react it was painful and left her vulnerable like in the Forest of Death.

"Anko?" Kakashi asked seeing how she was.

"I'm fine," Anko said looking up at him. "If I help you with this you think you can help me?"

Kakashi rubbed his chin, "It might not be too much of a problem, although I might have to get someone else to put it on you as I'm not sure you'll let me try anything what I used on Sasuke."

"Why is that?" Anko demanded her hands on her hips.

"The seal required Sasuke to have it painted on his upper body, his bare upper body." He clarified.

Anko's face lit up in realization, "Ohhhhh...yeah thanks for the heads up but trust me I got nothing to be ashamed of but thanks for the heads up. Well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, so then what do we do first?"

Kakashi was glad for her help and who knew, maybe by studying her seal he could help her out as well.

**Next up Chapter 10: Helping Hands**


	10. Helping Hands

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 10: Helping Hands**

"So, why are we walking to the Hokage's tower?" Anko asked as she noticed where Kakashi was walking. She had agreed to help him since she figured it would be a nice way of sticking it to Orochimaru if she could foul up any plans he was making for the Uchiha boy.

"I need Tsunade-sama to see if she can find Jiraiya," Kakashi said to her. "I'm good but he's a true seal master after all he taught the Fourth many of his sealing techniques and knowledge so having his help would be good."

Anko nodded as that made sense to her, although once again she felt a small pang on why he wasn't called in for her. Then again she did remember Tsunade had been looking in on her when they had found her lost and confused. It was one of the reasons that Anko was glad that Tsunade was the new Hokage as she had a huge respect for the woman. She had been a big help in Anko's recovery and so Anko felt she owed the woman a lot.

"So what can you tell me about your seal?" Kakashi asked as they kept on walking. "Anything you can think of would be helpful."

Anko sighed as she thought about anything she could think of. "Well it hurts like a bastard for me at times. Like when I was with Orochimaru in the forest I could barely move."

"Did he start the seal or do you think it was reacting to his presence?"

Anko hadn't thought which it was at the time she was more focused on just trying to kill the bastard. She thought about all that he took from her, the uncertainty of what had happened to her plagued her for years with all the missing holes in her memories. All the memories of when Orochimaru became her sensei were just gone and it hurt, it hurt a lot. Every day she wondered if there was a face in the crowd she had known or had she any good memories buried up inside her mind.

Every time she tried to think it would hurt her and then she only got angrier.

Anko thought about her fight with Orochimaru and all that pain and anger, all that hatred built up in her.

"Ugh!" Anko winced as the mark on her neck throbbed.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked her helping her to steady herself.

"Just a flash of pain, I get them now and then." She told him pushing him away when she could stand. She hated being seen as weak among others.

Kakashi was silent a moment as he thought about something, "What was it you were feeling?"

"What was I feeling?"

Kakashi nodded, "Please describe your emotions at that moment."

Anko didn't know what he was getting at, "I felt anger, a lot of it. I was remembering how I was feeling in my fight with Orochimaru and then the pain started."

"Just anger?"

"What do you want to hear?" Anko asked getting annoyed.

"Because you're a bit angry now and seem fine so is there anything more than just anger?"

"Hatred, I was feeling hatred," Anko told him.

Kakashi nodded as if something was fitting into place. "Tell me is Orochimaru the only thing that you truly hate?"

"Okay what the hell are you getting at?" Anko demanded. She wasn't liking all the questions, sure she agreed to help but this was reminding her a bit too much like when she had been interrogated when she had been brought back to the village. She didn't like that time she had spent there in the dark cells as they were trying to see if she was a traitor or not.

"I think the seal reacts to very dark emotions," Kakashi started to tell her his theory. "Hatred seems to be a key in activating it. If you truly hate the man then the seal must have activated when it felt your hate growing. It sounds logical given what Sasuke's motivation is with his brother."

"Hatred for killing his clan and family," Anko said softly as it started to make sense to her as well. Orochimaru was just the sort of twisted person to make a seal that feed on negative emotions. Sure she felt anger at times but the seal never activated and people say they 'hate' something, but was that true hatred? She wanted to kill Orochimaru, she wanted to make him pay and for him to suffer like she had. Her hand went to her neck feeling the spot where the seal was.

"It could be at least one of the keys to the seal," Kakashi said breaking her out of her own thoughts. "There might be other emotions that will trigger it but that can be done for another time. However do you sometimes feel this pain at other moments?"

Anko nodded her head, "After certain bad dreams it hurts, not much but enough to be very annoying. Also I think it does react to Orochimaru's presence. During the start of the fight I could feel it but I could ignore it, it wasn't until later that it got too much for me."

"So heightened emotional states do affect it, and I'm not surprised that Orochimaru would cause it as well as he did give it to you." Kakashi told her.

"Great so what does this mean? I got to control my emotions, like that would happen," Anko muttered to herself. She would be the first to admit that she was pretty much a free spirit. Sure ninja weren't supposed to show emotions but that just wasn't the type she was. In a serious mission she could control herself she had that much discipline, but total control wasn't her. She cast a look to Kakashi who always seemed to have so much control and wondered how he was able to do it.

"Well we'll just think a way around it then," Kakashi turned to her and from how his eye was closed she could tell he was smiling at her. She nodded although she wasn't sure how he would but she felt a bit better otherwise.

**-Later that day-**

It was late afternoon by the time Kakashi showed up, even though he had a valid excuse his genins (mainly Sakura and Naruto) hadn't believed about helping a fellow ninja out. He didn't go into details about what exactly he was doing as he wasn't sure how Sasuke would react to him working on that seal of his again. The boy was becoming slightly worse it seemed and he was keeping a careful eye on him just in case. He had no idea what Sasuke was thinking or would do but the path the boy was walking down worried him.

Training went well for the most part, Sakura was coming along fine with her water manipulation in fact with her perfect chakra control she was getting the hang of it faster than Kakashi would have thought. All she lacked was the stamina and chakra supply. Sasuke was still slightly brooding but he seemed preoccupied with something lately but Kakashi couldn't tell with what. Naruto and Temari were proving to be forming good team work, most likely due to the living arrangements and the extra training she was helping him with.

Since Kakashi was meeting up with Anko later on and hopefully Jiraiya he had to make it a shorter day than normal. Sasuke went off as usual, but Sakura asked Temari if she could help her train a bit more. Temari didn't know much about the girl and figured since they were on the same team they might as well try to get to know each other more. So she told Naruto she would be home later.

As Sakura trained with Temari her respect for the older girl was growing, although Temari used a fan mostly in battle her hand to hand skills were better than Sakura's. She was coming along with the water jutsu that Kakashi had been teaching her and she almost had it but she lacked enough chakra to do it more than a few times. But she was improving, she used to only be able to do it three times but lately she pushed it up to five.

Temari was another big help, the woman was helping her in taijutsu and Sakura could notice some improvements. She learned a lot of things that they never taught at the academy. One thing she learned was when you punch with a hook to keep your elbow up so if you miss with the fist you can get your elbow in next. You could also catch the brow of your opponent with that elbow you can bust open the skin making blood flow into the eye.

After awhile both of them were getting tired as Temari called for a break, Sakura was thankful as she felt like she was about to drop any second anyway. Both girls rested up against a tree just enjoying the time to relax.

"You're getting better," Temari commented to the other girl.

"Really? I still feel like I need to go a lot further."

"Yeah you're right," Temari said as Sakura seemed to deflate at that. "But at the rate you're training it will take less time. What were you doing all that time anyway before now? I mean if you trained like this since you started the academy then you should be stronger."

"Oh, well..." Sakura bit her lip remembering how she had spent a lot of her free time trying to pursue Sasuke.

"Oh brother," Temari sighed, "Don't tell me you were one of those girls chasing after the Uchiha boy. So instead of training that could help you and your team survive you chased after a boy, real smart."

"Well Sasuke is worth it!" Sakura defended herself.

"Worth getting killed over!" Temari snapped at her. "This isn't a game, people will die on missions. I mean Naruto had to save your ass from my brother while your precious Uchiha couldn't do jack. Tell me do you always need to be rescued in your missions or do anything?"

Sakura wanted to say she did a lot of things but she couldn't think of anything. Hell she hadn't even thought it was Naruto who had rescued her at first, in fact during the forest of death it had been Naruto that came out of nowhere to save them from Orochimaru. She had tried to take care of the boys when they were both taken out but she hadn't done much.

Sure she had set up traps and had done everything she could have done, she had fought her hardest, she had bleed and got hurt bad to protect her team mates but she still had to be saved, this time by Lee. It was then that she realized she needed to be stronger to support her team instead of being a burden.

Temari saw the girl's face, she knew that she was harsh but she was on this team now and the girl needed to face the facts. "Look at least you're trying to improve."

"I know you're right and I am trying," Sakura said weakly. "It just that I'm always watching their backs, even Naruto who was the dead last is stronger than me now."

"Well he's surprising so don't feel too bad," Temari gave a small smile thinking back. "First time I met him I didn't think much of him at all. Just an idiot with a very loud mouth and who wore too much orange."

Sakura giggled at that, "Yeah you really should try to get him to wear something else at times."

Temari rolled her eyes, "Trust me I've been trying. Somehow I don't think Naruto would be Naruto without some orange in his life."

"And being a little dense and loud." Sakura commented as Temari gave a small nod.

"He is surprising though," Temari sighed as she looked to the sky. "He never gives up and he's actually kind of sweet at times."

"He cares a lot for his friends and those people that are precious to him," Sakura nodded remembering all the things Naruto had done. She felt bad for being mean to him when they were at school together and now she was considering him to be a very good friend. When Ino and her had stopped being friends she had been very lonely and she felt bad for making Naruto feel the same. Maybe if she had known what she did now they could have at least been friends for each other.

'_Well I can fix that now at least,'_ Sakura thought.

"So then, how are things going with you and Naruto?" Sakura asked the older girl.

Temari gave a small blush as she looked away, "We're doing fine. He tried so hard on the dates it's nice but I keep telling him to just be himself. But he is a nice guy but I don't know much about him, was he always like this?"

Temari thought she might be able to get some more information about Naruto through Sakura. She knew little of his past and figured since she was a teammate she would know more.

Sakura wasn't sure how to answer that at first. "Well, I'm not sure. We were never really friends before now."

"How come, he seems like a decent guy," Temari asked confused.

"Well...mainly it was just that a lot of the kids didn't hang out with him. He used to pull all kinds of pranks and stuff and he would act out. I also heard a lot of parents telling their kids to stay away from him but I never knew why. I heard kids asking their parents that same question but I never heard a real answer."

Temari got a small scowl on her face hearing that. _'Okay what the hell is the deal with this. I've noticed people glaring my way at times but lately it's also at him. At first I thought it was just because he was with me but I keep hearing stuff like this, there is something going on here and I want to figure out what's going on.'_

Whatever was going on, Temari wanted to figure out what was going on.

**-With Naruto-**

Naruto was on his way home with his mind on things, he had to change his route as he found himself walking to his old apartment complex and not for the first time. It would take some getting used to living in a new place it would seem. But still so far life was okay. The house was coming along and it was nice having someone with him all the time, and he felt that he and Temari were at least becoming nice friends. It was just nice waking up and having someone there, he hadn't realized just how empty his old apartment was.

Sure he had things, but until now he never knew what it was like having someone living with him. Naruto knew loneliness as he had been alone for most of his life but looking back on his old life now made that time seem even darker than he thought. It was a depressing thought but he quickly brightened as he thought of how he would never had to go back to that kind of life.

His thoughts were suddenly ripped from him as he felt someone gripping his jumpsuit and pulled him to face them. He was surprised to see Ino was the one there.

"Ino? What the hell?"

"So how are things going?" Ino asked grinning.

"With what?"

Ino scowled a little at him, "What do you mean with what? With Temari of course!"

"Oh!" Naruto blushed a bit as he scratched the back of his head. "Things are going good, we've gone on a few dates so far and she seemed to enjoy herself."

He didn't want to mention the whole thing with Jiraiya and how she had chased him around for a bit after she caught him staring at her breasts. But in his defence how was he not to look, they were practically at eye level with him and she was wearing a two piece at the time.

"So how has my advice been working out?" Ino asked him. "Have you gotten her any gifts or done something really nice for her?"

"Well a few things but how many gifts do I do and what else should I do?" Naruto asked her. He was willing to get any advice from anyone, well maybe except for Jiraiya he was still pissed about him trying to make one of his smut books about him and Temari.

"Well there are a several things you can do for a woman," Ino started to get into lecture mode with Naruto. "Don't forget to compliment a woman at times, things like hair, looks are important. If she got a new dress then comment on it because it's nice to know if a guy notices these things. Plus if she needs help you should help her before she has to ask that shows that you really do care."

Naruto nodded his head as he tried to remember all of this.

"Another thing is how you look," Ino told him.

Naruto frowned as she looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well for one you need to get rid of that hideous jumpsuit," Ino pointed at his beloved suit. "I mean all that bright orange, I'm amazed you haven't gotten killed it just screams out 'here I am come and kill me' to the enemy."

"But I like orange!" Naruto whined.

Ino sighed, "Well how about getting something with a little less? I mean it's not exactly the kind of thing a ninja should wear."

Naruto would have to think about it, he just loved orange plus the jump suit was neat. It had a lot of pocket space and it was easy to repair and clean, not to mention it was cheap too. It was very comfortable as well so he wore it all the time. But was it really that bad for a ninja? He thought about what others wore and not many wore bright colors all that much, in fact even Sasuke had taken to wearing a new black outfit that he had to admit was better than the older one.

"Well what would be better?" Naruto asked as he never did have any real fashion sense.

Ino grinned, "How much money you got on you?"

Naruto blinked a few times as he pulled out Gama-chan his frog wallet, with the new pay he was getting he had a bit more money these days. Plus there was that he had saved up over his life as well back at the home but he kept that for emergencies or if he really needed it.

Ino took a quick look and nodded, "Okay looks like you got enough for at least a couple of things."

"A couple of things?"

Ino suddenly pulled him on his arm, "Yeah, come on I'm taking you shopping and helping you to pick out some decent clothing."

Before he could even stop her she was dragging him through the streets of Konoha.

**-Uzumaki home-**

Temari got back feeling tried and her feet were killing her. She placed her battle fan against the wall by the front door and kicked off her footwear. She noticed that Naruto's shoes were there as well and he must be home. She went straight the couch and fell onto it with a groan. After a bit she rolled onto her back and just felt like going into the onsen or at least in a hot bath but she couldn't even move at this point.

"Hey Temari that you?" Called Naruto from another room, her later entered and saw her sprawled onto the couch. "Man you look like you and Sakura-chan must have went all out."

"Thank," Temari said dryly. "God I feel tired and my feet are killing me."

Naruto thought back to some of the things Ino had talked about. "Uh...maybe I could help out?"

Temari looked at him for a moment, "how?"

"Well, uh...I could..." Naruto wasn't sure the words just left his mouth without really thinking of what he could do. He had been hoping that she would know what he could do. He had to think of something and he tried to think of what he would want if his feet were hurting. "I could...give you a foot rub?"

Temari thought about it, she only got something like that from a spa but it had been a very long time since she had gone to one of those. It would sound very nice at this moment as well.

"Alright but don't try anything perverted." She warned him.

"I'm not Ero-sennin you know," Naruto said as he got to her feet. He wasn't sure what to do so he started out gently with just rubbing them. Then he trailed his finger over her arch and she jumped with a yelp.

"Don't do that!"

"Oh, why is that?" Naruto asked her.

"Because it tickles," Temari said.

"Oh it does, does it." Naruto grinned at her and Temari's eyes widened as she had seen that grin on his face during those pranks of theirs. Before she could pull her feet away he grabbed one and started to tickle her sensitive areas of her feet. Temari tried to kick him but she couldn't get a decent shot in with her one free leg and then he suddenly managed to sit gently on her leg pinning it. Now he could concentrate on tickling her foot and soon Temari couldn't fight back anymore.

She was laughing so hard she could barely say a word out.

"Give up?" Naruto asked as he paused.

"You little bastard," she said which only got him to start again. "Okay I give! I give!"

Naruto chuckled as he released her feet and got a kick to his arm for it, "That wasn't funny."

"It was for me," He grinned at her, "you should laugh more you know. You got a nice laugh."

Temari was silent, no one had ever said that about her than again she hadn't really laughed before she had met Naruto. He made her smile even if it was just something stupid he was doing or from him actually trying to make her feel better. Naruto told her to put her feet back but only after she made him promise not to tickle her feet again. It took Naruto a bit to see what would work and what didn't as he listened to what Temari told her what was feeling nice or what hurt from too much pressure.

After about a few minutes Naruto figured out how to give her a good foot rub.

"Okay that feels so good now," Temari sighed as she smiled as he rubbed her feet. "Too bad you can't get my shoulders too."

"Sure I can," He said as he suddenly made a clone and told him to take over her feet. Temari had forgotten about that and although it was something no boy had done to her before she wasn't sure if she was ready for him to be that close to her in this kind of situation. But she was starting to trust him and her feet were feeling much better, one of the drawbacks to using her battle fan was the strain it put on her neck and shoulders area.

"How come your skin is soft?" Naruto asked confused as he felt her skin on her neck. "I mean aren't you from a desert?"

"Piece of advice if you want to be rice in Suna is that you invest in certain things. Water import is one but another are skin care products," Temari explained to him. "You think anyone likes to feel course skin all the time? You'd be amazed at how much of that stuff people buy, given how much damage heat and sand can do to your skin."

Naruto hadn't thought about it, then again he had seen those large bottles of skin care products that she had in her room and in the main bathroom.

Eventually she decided to give him a chance and moved down a bit to give him room. Naruto was a little nervous at this point, no girl had even let him do anything like this before. But he gently placed his hands on her shoulders and started to experiment with what felt good for her. After a little trial and error he eventually found what seemed to work from Temari started to sigh at times.

Temari was surprised with herself that she let him do this but at the moment it felt too damn good to care.

'_Damn always with the surprises,'_ Temari thought feeling much more relaxed now with one Naruto on her feet and the other by her shoulders and neck it felt very good. _'Okay maybe there will be something else to look forward to in this marriage.'_

Temari felt her eye lids getting heavy and soon she rested against Naruto as he continued to work on her.

After awhile, Naruto noticed that she had fallen asleep and he looked at her. Her face was more peaceful like this. She sighed as she seemed to snuggle against him a little and Naruto blushed as she did. His clone was giving him a scowl like he wished he had been in his place but didn't say anything to wake her. Naruto looked down at her and he smiled, she really was pretty especially when she relaxed her face like this. All the tension was gone and it was like he was seeing a part of her that she kept hidden from the world.

He really shouldn't enjoy this but he couldn't help it, but eventually he figured he might as well put her in her room. He motioned for the clone to get closer and whispered something to him he nodded and ran off quietly upstairs as Naruto gently moved Temari into his arms. She was a bit bigger but Naruto was stronger than he looked, carrying her bridal style he gently walked up the stairs. Her gentle breathing was against his neck and he had to admit it felt nice he gulped as he felt himself getting all warm.

Her door was open when he got there as the clone had made sure it was and her bed covers were pulled back too. Naruto gently laid her in the bed and covered her up and for a moment he stood there smiling at her. He wasn't sure why but he couldn't look away from her like this. On instinct he gently ran a hand over her cheek and she moaned something in her sleep as he quickly pulled back in case she woke up and asked what he was doing. He saw his clone there and jerked his head to the door.

A couple of hours later Temari woke up feeling well rested, she wasn't sure why at first as she looked around. She was confused as to why she was in her bed. The last thing she remembered was getting a very good massage by Naruto, she blushed remembering that she had no idea the blonde was so good.

'_Damn get a hold of yourself,'_ Temari thoughts as she got out of bed._ 'Okay so he's good with his hands no need to get like that, even though it did feel really nice.'_

She sighed to herself as she wondering how long she had been out and how she got into bed. Temari smelled something cooking and followed it to the kitchen.

"Hey you're up, I wasn't sure if I should wake you or not," Naruto smiled at her as he noticed her walking in.

"It's alright by the way how did I get up to my room?"

"Oh that," Naruto blushed a bit as he turned around to the stove. "Well you fell asleep against me and I thought you might be more comfortable in your bed so I carried you up there."

"Oh, thanks." Temari blushed a bit at how she had fallen asleep against him. At least she was sure he didn't try anything with her. As she sat down she remembered her earlier talk with Sakura about him and decided she would try and get to know those that knew Naruto best. From their talks he talked a lot about a guy named Iruka who was teaching at the academy and some kid named Konohamaru. Maybe she could stop by there and see what she could dig up about Naruto.

**Next up Chapter 11: Looking into the Past**


	11. Looking into the Past

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 11: Looking into the Past**

Team 7 had been given a day off by Kakashi, apparently he was looking into something and it would take some time so he left them a free day. Naruto wanted to see Lee in the hospital as the boy was going into his surgery soon and he wanted to support him, Sakura had agreed to go as well. Sasuke said he had better things to do which of course started an argument with Naruto that lasted for a bit. Temari said she had a few things she needed to take care of and would meet up with Naruto back at their home.

Temari figured this was the best time to start looking into the blond puzzle that was Naruto Uzumaki. She had read his file back in Suna when she was told who she was to marry. The files they did have came from the shared information act that the previous alliance had that would give the basic information on active ninja that weren't ANBU. It was a way to prevent villages that were friendly with each other to prevent complications while on mission or met up in the field.

Also Suna had just before the invasion had made up files on all active ninja they could find, the Suna intelligence section had stopped every other mission for the planned invasion of Konoha. Given the failure of that invasion, Temari had a good guess that many people lost their jobs if not their lives for failure to gain the proper intelligence for just how strong this village was. At any rate she had memorized his records but some of it didn't make any sense as she had gotten to know Naruto.

He was an orphan from a family name that had no record to it, Uzumaki just didn't seem to exist in any records that her people could find and there had never been an Uzumaki clan at any point that she could find. But to gain entrance into the academy you needed to be sponsored, usually by a guardian or parent. But Naruto's had been sighed by the Third Hokage himself which was very odd, even the Third had emancipated Naruto at a young age taking him out of the orphanage and even gave him an apartment.

There was obviously something going on, it was nagging at her lately. Naruto's grade showed him the last in his class and she had to admit that his book smarts weren't all that great. His taijutsu was basic but he improvised a lot in his fights while disregarding his own safety like injuries didn't matter to him. His ninjutsu however was very impressive as he had learned a move of the Fourth's in a month. He was also making good progress with his wind manipulation as well. There were also times he had great insight into things so his grade didn't make much sense to her.

There were so many things that didn't make sense so she needed to start piecing things together. That was to start talking to those that knew Naruto the most, the ramen stand people seemed nice and apparently knew him very well but right now she was heading for the academy. Hopefully she could find this Iruka that Naruto had talked about, she had seen a picture that the young man had of himself with strange goggles on his head with a man with a scar on his face both smiling.

Know where the man was and what he looked like she had an idea it wouldn't be a problem to find him. Thankfully, Naruto had given her a very good tour of the village and her time here, both in the chunin exams and her living here, Temari had started to know the village fairly well. She walked her way to where the academy was and remembered Naruto showing her the building. To her it wasn't all that impressive, a few stories and looked like it could hold somewhere around five to eight classes.

She also remembered this as the place where they had met up for the chunin exams with that written test that scared freak made them take. She still couldn't believe all that hard work in that test was for nothing. Temari then smiled as she remembered the end of that test, with Naruto slamming his hand onto the desk and voicing his claim of not giving up. At the time she didn't think much of it, but looking back she had to admit that Naruto wasn't going to let anyone or anything stand in his way of being Hokage.

When she got inside there was a helpful lady at the front desk that told her where to find the teacher by the name of Iruka. Temari signed in and made her way to where the classroom was, she wasn't sure if the class was in session or not and if it was she would have to wait for a break to talk to him. Fortunately when she got to the room the door was open, she looked inside the empty class with only a man writing on papers, most likely grading them. She could see kids playing outside the window in the back of the building and guessed she had good timing.

"Excuse me I'm looking for Iruka?" Temari asked as she entered the room.

Iruka looked up to the blonde girl a little confused at first seeing the Leaf village symbol around her neck. He didn't remember who she was at first but the fan on her back made him kick in his memory. He had seen the Sand team only a couple of times and never up close but that fan was something that stuck out in memory.

"Ah, you wouldn't happen to be Temari, would you?" Iruka asked in a friendly manner.

Temari nodded, "Yes I am and I take it that you are Iruka."

It was more a statement then question but Iruka nodded anyway as he stood up to great her. She had heard all about the whole arranged married with Naruto and he felt for the boy. He had been so busy the past couple of weeks he kept missing Naruto at the ramen stand.

"So what can I do for you?" He asked her.

Temari wasn't sure what to say at first, she had thought about several things to talk about but decided to lead up to the really important questions she wanted to ask. "Naruto has talked a lot about many of the people in his life, I think I've met most of them but I wanted to meet more of them. Since they're important to him I thought I should get to know them as his future…wife," it was still a bit hard to say that.

Not that marrying Naruto was something she hated, in fact lately she was starting to get comfortable with the idea. She could have been chosen to marry a lot worse in her opinion. It was that she was sixteen and going to marry already at that age next month.

"Given that I felt I should meet them," Temari added. "Plus we haven't really gotten any visitors so I wanted to make sure they knew they were welcomed in our house hold."

'_Although that pervert of a sannin better be on his good behaviour from now on,'_ Temari darkly thought.

"Well that's good to hear," Iruka smiled at her. "I kept meaning to come by but I've been busy lately with all the tests this week. But I would like to stop by as I haven't seen Naruto in awhile and want to see how he's doing."

Temari gave a small smile at the man, he gave off a very friendly vibe and he seemed to really care about Naruto. In their talks together she got the feeling that Naruto looked up to Iruka like an older brother in many ways. She could see that the feeling was mutual here as well for the older man.

"I was wondering thought," Temari said. "Could you, tell me more about him. I mean every time I think I know more about Naruto something just comes up and well…"

Iruka gave a small laugh at that, "Yeah he's very surprising isn't he? I've known him for years and he still surprises me at times. So what would you like to know about him?"

"Anything you can tell me, I want to know what his life was like here at school." Temari noted a slight drop in his smile.

"Well he was always a…unique student," Iruka sighed. "He pulled pranks, got into trouble and he just really acted out a lot. Although I know he's a good kid he just wanted attention and didn't care how or what kind of attention he got growing up."

"Because he was an orphan and didn't have any family," Temari stated but as Iruka nodded she felt like he was holding back something else but couldn't place what it was.

"I lost my parents at an early age as well but I still remember them," Iruka said solemnly. "It was tougher for Naruto since he has no memory at all of who his parents were."

"Do you know?" Temari asked him.

"I'm sorry I don't and I wish I did." The older man sighed. "He once asked me himself when he was younger but I couldn't tell him anything. He looked so sad at that and I can't think or a worse thing for not knowing your parents or family."

Temari thought back to her mother and brothers but when she got to her father there was no love for that image. She had nothing but a cold attachment to him, as he was a father in blood only to her. So cold to everyone even his own family, plus he had been the one to force the demon into Gaara. It was that she guessed that led to the death of her mother as well so to her she could have lived without knowing that part of her family.

"So how come his grade have been so bad?" Temari asked him who looked a little surprised by the question. "I've heard Sasuke call him an idiot and dead last many times and I found out he was at the bottom of the class but it makes no sense. He's shown a lot more skill than most genin his age and even has some skills above a chunin."

Iruka was surprised at that, sure he knew Naruto was special and had gotten stronger since his time at the academy but this girl's claims were more than he thought that Naruto had done. Then again lately he had heard people talking about Naruto in a more positive light. Sure some people were still against him, mainly the civilian branch of the village but a lot of the ninjas had been impressed by him lately. The rumor of how he had defeated Gaara was also going around, many thought that was in some way linked to Temari being here as well.

"Really, how so?" Iruka asked interested.

"Well he can summon toads, I'm teaching him wind manipulation and he can use something called a Rasengan."

Iruka was struck with surprise at the last part he knew what the Rasengan was, as did most of the ninja in the village. His surprise was later turned into a very proud smile as Naruto was starting to shape up into a great ninja.

"There's something else I've been hoping to ask," Temari had figured with the small talk out of the way she could get into the real heart of the matter. "I was hoping that if you knew his family then you could explain something to me but I guess that's out of the question now. You see I've been noticing cold looks at Naruto, at first I thought it was me as I know there are many that still don't like Suna. But the cold looks that Naruto gets seems to also be when I'm not close to him, I thought maybe the Uzumaki family had done something in the past and it fell onto Naruto's shoulders."

Iruka suddenly didn't like where this was going, the girl was digging into Naruto's past and that wasn't good. The secret of the Nine Tails was an S-Class secret and so far the girl had noticed how some of the older generation still had a cold hatred for Naruto or at least what was inside of him.

"Well he has pulled many pranks in his life and some people never can forget or forgive," he said to her hoping to evade the truth.

Temari didn't looked convinced by that, "I thought about it but it wouldn't add up with the amount of looks he gets. There's something more and I had been hoping that to find out what the source of it was."

Iruka could see that Temari was a smart girl who could see more than what was on the surface that was both good and bad. Good for her out in the field as that had saved lives of many ninja from failing to fall into traps and ambushes. But the bad thing was she was putting that into looking into Naruto's past.

Temari was going to say something else but she was interrupted when a very loud voice was heard.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Temari turned to see three kids running into the room and they seemed familiar for some reason to Temari, specially the loud one with the long scarf.

"Konohamaru, what is going on why aren't you three outside with the others?" Iruka asked them.

"We accidentally kicked the ball we were using onto the roof and hoped you could let us go up and get it," Konohamaru said and then noticed the tall blonde girl there. It took a moment for him to realise that he knew this girl, the last time he had seen her she had been wearing a white battle dress and not the purple one she had on now.

"Ah! I know you!" Konohamaru pointed accusingly at her. "You were with that jerk with the makeup on his face!"

Then it clicked where Temari had met him, he had been the little brat that ran into her younger brother Kankuro.

"Konohamaru be nice, this is Temari-san who will be marrying Naruto," Iruka told the young boy.

All three kids looked shocked at the news, Naruto had told them that he was stuck into this but they didn't know who the girl was. Although this was something that he never would have thought that the mean blonde girl from before was marrying Naruto.

"Why does Naruto-niichan have to marry this girl?" Konohamaru pouted angrily.

Temari narrowed her eyes at that, was the kid implying that she wasn't good enough for Naruto? She was the daughter of the late Kage, top of her class and one of the best damn Kunoichi in her age group and even in a few other age groups. She had given up a lot for this alliance marriage as well and she would be damned if this little brat said she wasn't good enough.

With hands on her hips she leaned down to glare at the little kid, he had the good sense to take a slight step back from her. "Look brat, it's not like either of us had a choice in the matter but we're both making the best of it."

"Yeah well you better be nice to him or else!" The little kid threatened although everyone in the room knew it was an empty threat, he was just trying to stick up for Naruto and look tough in front of everyone.

Temari looked at the kid and for a split second, she thought him almost a mini-clone of Naruto at that moment. In fact he acted a lot like the blonde boy and she started to see the influence Naruto seemed to have on him. The boy seemed to really look up to Naruto, almost with a kind of hero worship. She was wondering what he did to get the boy's total respect like this.

Temari gave a small smile, "You really look up to him, huh?"

Konohamaru was puzzled by that for a moment, "Yeah."

"Why is that?"

The boy wasn't sure if he should say and looked to his two best friends who nodded. "Well, before him everyone called me 'Honorable Grandson' just because my grandpa is…was…" He looked a bit saddened at that. It still hurt that his grandfather was gone now. He had gotten over that fact that Tsunade was now Hokage but still it was a missing piece of his life that he would never get back.

"Was the Hokage." He finished.

Temari hadn't known that, in fact it was Orochimaru that had tricked her village into attacking and killed this boy's Grandfather as well as was responsible for so much death.

"Everyone called me by that title and no one outside of my family called me Konohamaru,' the boy continued. "Everyone treated me differently and I didn't like it. It was like no one saw the real me and only this 'Honorable Grandson' they kept calling me. I wanted to be seen as Konohamaru, as myself."

"But then Naruto was the first one to notice me, the real me." Konohamaru's face seemed to light up at this point. "He takes time to play with us and teaches us all kinds of things. He's the first real friend I had before I met Moegi and Udon."

"Yeah, Naruto-niichan is the best," Moegi said as Udon nodded his head.

Temari should have known that Naruto would have this effect on people after all it was him that seemed to have changed Gaara for the better. Where ever he went the boy seemed to bring new life into the lives of others.

"So what has he been teaching you kids anyway?"

Iruka suddenly got a very bad feeling at this point when he saw the familiar glint in Konohamaru's eyes. It was the same look Naruto gave before he pulled off _that _technique.

"He taught me this great move that he made up for dealing with perverts!" He then ran through the hand signs before Iruka could yell at him to stop. "Sexy Jutsu!"

Temari saw the smoke and the shock on her face would have been priceless to her brother. There before her was now a very attractive brunette girl in a seductive pose who was totally naked with a few pieces of smoke here and there. There was a thud as her head wiped around to see Iruka on the floor with blood from his nose. She then turned her attention back to the naked woman with a glare.

Konohamaru turned back into his normal form with his eyes closed in a huge smile, "What do you think? It's one of his most famous creations."

Temari didn't say a word until she got close enough to the boy and gripped his ear very painfully, the boy yelled out as he tried to break away but she gripped it tighter letting him know that he wasn't getting away and shouldn't try.

"Are you telling me that Naruto, _my_ Naruto made that…_jutsu_, and taught it to a _kid_!" Temari said in a angry tone.

"Y-yeah!" The boy winced as his ear was starting to hurt.

"I'm going to kill him," Temari said as she let go of his ear, "I never want to see you pull something like that in front of me again are we clear?"

The three kids nodded as one as they took a few paces back in fear of the blonde woman. They watched as she stalked out of the room in search of her fiancé and teach him the proper things that you do and do _not_ teach children. The Konohamaru corps watched her leave and were starting to pray that Naruto could either out run her or hoped she didn't actually kill him. Iruka had managed to recover and although he didn't like that jutsu (at least he wouldn't admit to liking it), he had to be thankful that it got Temari's mind off Naruto's past.

'_This could end up bad,"_ Iruka thought as he cleaned off the blood on his jacket_. 'She's getting a little too close, I'll have to talk to Naruto about this as only he can be the one to tell her or at last he should tell her. She'll have to know eventually but I just hope he can trust her enough to open up about this.'_

**-Later that Day-**

Naruto and Sakura were walking out of the hospital both of them were happy that Lee was in high spirits for his operation and had already challenged Naruto to a spar when he got all better. Naruto being Naruto, agreed to it all too happily. Sakura was amazed that Tsunade could be able to heal the kind of damage done to Lee, she was truly an amazing person.

"I'm so glad that Lee will get better," Sakura said as they walked on together.

"Yeah, I'm sure that Tsunade-baachan will heal him up in no time," Naruto said with that ever present fox like grin on his face.

Sakura gave a small smile and nodded.

"Sometimes I wish I could be as strong as her," Sakura wished out loud. "She's one of the strongest ninja in the world and can heal so many things that most people would think impossible."

"Hey you're getting stronger every day Sakura-chan," Naruto said to his friend. "Temari is helping you out and Kakashi-sensei isn't being as lazy as usual, well except on those stupid D rank missions. But you shouldn't sell yourself short, we've all have come a long way and we can all still get stronger together."

Sakura was grateful for Naruto's outlook, he always made things better for some reason. Still she had been wondering just what kind of ninja she wanted to be lately. She was learning her water jutsus and nearly got them down perfectly, her hand to hand was getting a lot better, her genjutsu was just above average mostly dealing with spotting and disrupting them.

Temari was a long range wind user with tactical thinking, Sasuke was a mid to close range fighter with his sharingan to copy the moves of the enemies made him a great fighter. Naruto she had to admit was just as good lately, his skills were growing so fast she couldn't keep up with him. But what could she say of herself? She thought of other teams and how they blended well into each other, each person's special talents complimented each other.

Tenten was a weapons mistress in the making, Neji was a great fighter and scout, Lee's specialty in taijutsu, Ino with her mind abilities could gain information like no one else, Shino with his bugs, Kiba with Akamaru were great trackers and the list went on. So what could she say about herself that made her stand out? Overall she was very average so what was her strengths? She had great chakra control but what could that be used for?

So far the only two main options would be genjutsu but that wasn't Kakashi's specialty, if she had been put with Kurenai she was sure that she would have gone that route but the only other thing was medical jutsu and who could train in her in that?

"Hey Sakura-chan what are you thinking so hard about?" Naruto asked seeing how quiet she had been. Her face had taken on a serious thinking expression.

"Huh? Oh nothing just thinking about the future is all," She said smiling at him, she didn't want to worry him after all this was her problem and she wanted to be the one to figure it out. Naruto just shrugged and let it rest as they walked on, eventually they had to go their separate ways and said goodbye to each other.

Naruto was walking on his way to his home and wondered if Temari would be home yet. He smiled at that, it felt really nice to go home and someone could actually be there for once.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto looked over and saw Iruka waving to him, the boy got a huge smile on his face he hadn't seen him in awhile.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled and ran over to him.

"How have you been Naruto?" The man asked him.

Naruto put on that foxy grin of his again, "It's going great, I'm learning all kinds of new things and I've gotten tons stronger."

"So I've heard," Iruka smiled and then he got a more serious look on his face. "Naruto I have something important to talk to you about. But not here, it's something we can't really talk about in the open."

Naruto blinked in confusion for a bit until he figured out what he was talking about and he felt his stomach sink. It had to be about the Fox as there was nothing else that Iruka could mean. Naruto nodded and they quickly left for Iruka's apartment. Naruto sat down on the couch as Iruka sat down with him, and Naruto was a little worried about just what he wanted to talk about exactly.

"Naruto you should know that Temari came by the school today," Iruka said to him. "She was looking into your past it would seem."

Naruto got a very bad feeling at the moment, he had seen how smart she had been. Hell that shogi game she had brought with her he had never even came close to beating her and she knew a lot of things as well. He would have to say she was one of the smartest people he knew. If she put together that his birthday was the same day that the Kyuubi was defeated she might start to put things together.

He looked down at his feet, things were finally starting to go well and now if she found out about the demon she might hate him. It wasn't fair how this stupid fox inside of him kept screwing with his life, no one had wanted to adopt him, no one would recognize him and he had been alone for most of his life because of it. Sure things had gotten a bit better lately but he was still afraid, it was the fear of being rejected and going back to that loneliness again that prevented him from telling his friends the truth.

He just didn't want to lose more to the damn fox again, he had too much taken from him by that demon as it was.

"Naruto, maybe you should tell her before she finds out," Iruka said gently to him.

"But what if she hates me?" Naruto asked him desperately. "I mean maybe she won't find out?"

Iruka gave him a look of pity as the boy had to deal with so much in his life. "Naruto I think she might figure things out sooner or later, plus she'll be your wife soon so doesn't she have a right to know?"

Naruto felt a little guilty at that, he still remembered how on that trip to get Tsunade, he had ran into Itachi Uchiha and that strange fish guy. They had been after him because of what was inside of him, they had even gotten into the village and put Kakashi in the hospital as well. If they came again would they use Temari against him?

He could see them doing it as well and it didn't seem right to put her in danger and not tell her.

"It will be better if it came from you then some stranger or if she figured it out."

Those words hit him just as hard.

Naruto knew he had to tell her but in all honestly he wished he didn't have to. How would he even begin to tell her this? Would she call off the whole wedding thing because of it or would she end up being cold to him for the rest of their lives together. Naruto felt like a pit of blackness in his core at the thought of that kind of life. He wanted her to at least like him but who would want to be with someone who had a demon in them?

Ever since he had found out what was inside of him he had been scared to tell anyone but now he didn't have a choice. He thanked Iruka for telling him and he walked out of the apartment with his hands in his pockets and a downcast look. Iruka felt bad for Naruto but he had to tell him what was going on and he had to make the choice of what to tell Temari.

Iruka just prayed that things would work out for the boy.

**Next up Chapter 12: Truth comes out**


	12. The Truth Comes Out

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 12: Truth comes out**

**-Sound Base 5, Tea Country-**

Orochimaru was still in his bed as he tried to blot out the pain in his arms. It had been too long since that old man had taken his arms from him with that jutsu. If the old man wasn't dead he would have killed him in the most slow and painful of ways. He grunted in pain as his arms were slowly decaying, having the flesh of your body slowly falling apart on you gave you pain unlike anything a person could imagine. Of course he knew it wasn't really 'his' body, his original body was long since gone.

All the research into immortality had left him only one option, to cast off an old body like a snake sheds its skin. The bodies of course would have to be injected and altered so that he would be able to use some of his more special abilities. It was time consuming but it thankfully he had refined the process by now. At first it took him nearly a year for the body to be altered enough but now it only took a few months. But no matter what he could never make the bodies last, they burned out too quickly for him. Three years and he needed to find a new host, and he had to be careful because not just any body would do. Orochimaru had to make sure they were strong bodies as weak ones wouldn't last as long and they couldn't be enhanced enough with all the drugs and forbidden techniques he needed to put into them.

He had learned early on to not just have one person to be his next host but to find those that were perfect for him was hard to find. Only the truly exceptional could be his body, like Kimimaro the leader of the Sound Five-well Sound Four now- his bloodline ability was truly one of a kind. But the boy was dying and wouldn't last even with the curse mark on him and so the boy was on life support, kept alive for the last time, Orochimaru would need him.

A few others could be used but he wanted Sasuke Uchiha, the sharingan with the ability to copy all jutsu would let him learn in three years what would take him three hundred years to learn. After his failure with Itachi, Sasuke was the only option. While true the boy was a bit too young, Orochimaru had ways to alter the body to that of a more adult form. But he needed the boy for other reasons, with the boy's body he could use the DNA to help recreate the Uchiha Clan.

His previous experiments in Konoha before his exile, he had been trying to recreate the wood abilities of the First and he felt he had been close. One had survived and although he didn't know it, he had heard rumors of a masked ANBU with wood abilities. When he heard of that, Orochimaru had started up with his DNA project again and when he got Sasuke he could find a way to make a whole new line of sharingan users to use in the future.

He could infuse a fetus with that and let it grow in a tank or he could always do artificial insemination. He had plans for both at any point, the strongest female warriors were already picked out in advanced and Kabuto kept an eye out for any future prospects. Unlike his ex-teammate he never was interested in the whole sexual side of relationships, to Orochimaru it seemed too vulgar a process. He never understood that part of humanity and he never would, he just felt it was a good thing he was like this. It was only a distraction and he could focus more on his work.

Pain flared up again in his arms and he cried out for Kabuto, he needed more medicine to help with the pain. Soon the flesh of his arms wouldn't be able to hold together and then infections would start to spread through his body. Even with all the enhancements if his body was too weak he could still get sick. Kabuto tried to numb the nerves but for some reason it wasn't working, he yelled again when the boy hadn't shown up.

The door flew open as Kabuto rushed into the room, Orochimaru yelled for more medicine and the boy ran to the side table where they all were. He injected several compounds into his body through the ruined arms, and then into the main body. The needles were less painful then his arms at the moment but soon the pain started to lessen, it never left him but it was now tolerable.

"Where the hell is Sasuke?" Orochimaru demanded.

"The Sound Four are still watching him as per your orders," Kabuto said as he put the medicine away. "Apparently he's been training himself trying to learn how to use your little 'gift' so far. But they haven't risked being seen yet, even though thanks to your knowledge on Konoha's security they could still be found out."

"I don't know how much longer I can wait," Orochimaru said angrily. "If the old fool hadn't used that jutsu on me I could afford to wait but I need a new body. With Tsunade's refusal to heal me I need a new body."

He still was supposed to have at least two years more with this new body but he had to change quickly. Normally changing so fast wasn't a good idea as it would weaken him to keep changing too fast but he had no choice. He wanted the an Uchiha body for so long and one was almost within his grasp. The boy's lust for power for revenge would surely motivate the boy to seek him out. Plus the curse seal was also there, it would give him power while feeding on his negative emotions and even increasing them.

That was one of his best pieces of work, something that would slowly twist the minds that used them. The darker the urges the better the seal would work. It was unfortunate that his first success in Anko had been a disappointment, the girl would have made a fine apprentice and maybe even a good host body one day. But she lacked the need for power, she had been physically strong enough to survive but she was too weak as a person. She was too soft and so he left her to die in that place.

He had been surprised to learn she had survived but it had been fun to run into his old student again. She had grown but was still too soft, the curse mark worked against her because she fought against it, instead of embracing it.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked him.

"How much longer do I have?" Orochimaru asked.

"At the rate of decay I would say two weeks at best."

Orochimaru's face twisted in pain and anger, he couldn't afford to wait that long. Sasuke was taking too long to join him and he was quickly running out of options."

"Start the preparations for a new host," Orochimaru spat out.

**-Uchiha District-**

Sasuke had been working hard on trying to understand the seal that Orochimaru put on him. After his team was let go for the day he had gotten as many scrolls on sealing and seals that he could from the library of his clan. Although he only knew the simple ones for how to seal weapons he had thought it wouldn't be that tough. Although called a genius, it turned out that seals required a different type of genius. The formulas were very complex and just getting a rudimentary grasp of it was difficult.

There was also the fact that Orochimaru had created this seal himself and there were no official records, although he bet there were classified ones but even he couldn't get those. Only high ranking jonins would be the only ones to get those kinds of records and would most likely need to have the Hokage's approval too. He knew he couldn't go to Kakashi to ask for them because he wouldn't approve of what he was doing.

Sasuke needed more power and this seal seemed like the best way to go about it. He remembered when it first activated, he had never felt so powerful or so alive at that moment. He had been enjoying himself in ways he had thought lost to him. When he had been trying to tare that Sound genin's arms off he had liked it, all battles after he had never felt like that again and he was wondering why.

In battle he only thought about victory but that point he had for the first time actually liked being in battle. He had thrived in the heat of the moment and from even the pain he had been inflicting at the time to the Sound genin.

At any rate so far the seal was too complicated for him to figure anything out, whatever it was he had to work it out on his own. Which led him to his practice sessions by the lake where he had mastered that fire jutsu. That had been when his father had finally taken notice of him, when his father had told him that he was going to train Sasuke personally, Sasuke had been overjoyed. He had been living in his older brother's shadow all his life and finally, finally he was being recognized. He had gone to bed that night happier than he had been in a long time and couldn't wait until the next day.

But that was the night when his world was destroyed.

Itachi had but butchered his clan and family, had tortured him for three days and left him broken there among the blood and corpses of his mother and father. He was alone in the world, there was no brother to look up to, no father for advice and no mother who always made him feel safe and warm.

All he felt was the numbing cold of the hole that was left in his life.

Sasuke started up his warm up routine as he started to practice his family fighting style. He remembered the times his brother would train him, back then everything was good. He had loved his older brother and looked up to him, which what made his betrayal all the more hard on the younger Sasuke. The one person he thought he could trust, shattered that bond forever. Sasuke threw out a series of punches as the memories came flooding back to him.

He remembered after he had been found, how he had been in the hospital for a few months. He was shaken by the experience, he hadn't been able to sleep at night at all. Every shadow he had looked to see if Itachi would come back to finish the job. Sasuke had waited all night long in case his older brother had changed his mind and came to kill him too. He could only sleep in the days when he felt safe, but at night he waited.

Sasuke now started with the kicking combos, then into blocks and parries. His body moved on it's own as his mind battled with the memories that were swarming him. The fact was that he didn't hate Itachi at first, no that came later. At first he had been scared of Itachi, scared that he was going to wake up one night with Itachi over his bed. Those red eyes glaring at him as he plunged a sword into Sasuke's heart. After a few months when he knew Itachi wasn't coming back he had gone home for the first time.

He had seen the empty homes and streets and he could see the fresh pain to cover the blood that had been spilt there. He stood in the center of the Uchiha district for a long time that day. He felt the tears fall for the first time that day, he had fallen to his knees as he cried his heart out. All that pain and rage he had been bottling up came pouring out of him, he howled his anger into the empty area. He didn't know how long he had been there, the sun had been setting at that point but by the end of it he felt empty.

There were no more tears in him, and he hadn't cried again since that day. He had used up all the tears left in his life in a single moment. All that was left was the emptiness, that cold empty feeling like a hole in his chest. But soon he felt something else there, a cold burning sensation. It was the cold fury that was building up in him, he looked up with hard eyes around him. It was at that moment when he truly vowed to kill his brother, to seek revenge for his entire clan.

"Arrgh!" Sasuke felt the pain where the mark was flaring up. It was an intense sensation and for a moment he could barely stand. The pain slowly faded as he tried to think what caused it to flare up like that. Kakashi had told him that the seal around it was only as strong as his will but something else must have happened.

He had been thinking long and hard about the cursed seal, why it worked at the start and why the other times it had activated it had only weakened him. That first time it activated, that was what he needed to try and focus on. When he had fought Gaara he had needed more power and it had activated but not like the first time. His body wouldn't respond normally and he felt even weaker. So what was different about the Gaara fight and the fight with the Sound genin.

He came to realization it was the emotions involved. With Gaara he had felt fear and doubt but not with the Sound genin. There was more too, it had flared up just when he was thinking of that day he had made his vow to his clan. Something in that moment had triggered it as well.

'_Well I could try it, not like I got anything to lose.'_ Sasuke thought to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to remember that day again. He tried to focus on the pain and rage that had been inside of him, he thought of Itachi and what he had done, he thought of their last fight and how he had gone after Naruto of all people. His brother had tossed him aside like he was nothing but had been focused only on Naruto.

'_Naruto Why, why are you so strong now. You're the dead last, you come from no clan, have no bloodline there is nothing special about you and yet you keep getting stronger. You kept getting taught the things that I could use to complete my mission. Even Suna sees something in you, most likely for beating Gaara.' _

'_So why?_

"What makes him so special!?" Sasuke yelled out as the curse seal activated.

He cried out in pain but this time he didn't try to fight it. He embraced what he was feeling and soon the pain was passing. The black marks if he could see, were crawling over his body now covering half of it. He started to feel the power flowing into him and it felt great, better than great even. He threw his head back and laughed as the feeling of the raw power rushing through his body.

'This is it, this is the power that I need. Now I just need to tame it.' Sasuke thought to himself as he grinned. He started his physical work out trying to see how long he could keep the curse seal's power flowing through his body. He was faster and stronger like this, when he met Itachi again he would use the power of this seal as a surprise and finally kill his brother.

**-Uzumaki Home- **

Temari had been looking all over for Naruto, she tried the ramen stand and then the Fourth's head but so far no luck. Even the Hokage hadn't seen him and none of his friends either. After she had left the school she was on a mission to find Naruto and to let him know that teaching kids those kinds of things were not okay. She was still pissed after all this time, in fact not only pissed but her feet were killing her, which only made her more mad. There was only one place left to check and that was at home.

She stopped in her tracks at that thought.

'_When the hell did I ever start to think of this place as home?'_ Temari asked herself.

While she still considered Suna her home and always will, she was surprised by how she was starting to think of her two story house as 'home'. She sure didn't count the village as home, at least not yet. But for some reason the house was starting to feel like home to her. Sure she had all her stuff there but it was more than that, more then just having a place to live. She was actually starting to enjoy her life with Naruto, it was odd but she was starting to actually like the guy.

He made you feel at ease with yourself, he was always warm and his happiness was infectious at times.

She shook her head remembering that she was supposed to be mad at him. As the house came into view she noticed something on the roof. As she came closer she could see that someone was sitting on it.

Temari had an idea of who it was as well.

'_All that walking around and he was there the entire time?'_ Temari wasn't sure to be pissed or just happy that she had finally found him.

She quickly managed to get on to the roof and there he was, sitting there with his knees pulled up and his arms resting on them. He was looking far off but his eyes weren't focused as he was in deep thought about something. Temari was about to get out her battle fan when she stopped and took notice of his face. While living with him she had seen the various faces he had but this was one she had never seen before. She couldn't help but notice just how different it was and she was wondering if she was seeing a hidden side of him.

'_Well I'll ask what's going on...then I'll give him hell for teaching children that perverted jutsu.'_

"Alright so what the hell is wrong?" Temari asked the irritation in her voice she couldn't hide.

Naruto jumped at her voice, he had been so deep in thought that he hadn't even noticed her arriving. He put on that smiling face of his as he scratched the back of his head nervously. For the past hour or so he had been about what to say and how to go about this. He knew that she deserved to know the full truth of the matter but he couldn't help but worry how she would see him.

"Oh! Uh, well...I guess nothing much..." He chuckled but soon stopped seeing the serious look on her face.

"Naruto." She said simply more like a hidden command than her asking him anything.

He flinched a bit before he sighed and looked back out over the village as he got more serious again.

"Hey Temari...what if you knew something about me, something that might change how you see me?"

Now Temari was losing her previous anger as she was getting more interested. Was this that something that she had been looking into? Was this that secret that seemed to surround the blonde ninja?

She sat down next to him looking at him, she could see the look in his eyes. They held a pain in them that she hadn't seen in a very long time. She remembered how Gaara's eyes had looked like that, all that pain and loss. Then one night Gaara had changed and his eyes took on that awful look in them. The look of a madman that would kill anyone even her. For years she had been terrified of Gaara but then Naruto had changed him.

Looking at those blue expressive eyes of his she was reminded of those old times.

"Naruto you can tell me, whatever it is." She told him her voice gaining a bit more of a gentle tone. She wasn't sure why but seeing those eyes he had one now reached her. She felt a part of her wanting to comfort him, she wanted to see that usual happy look in them.

Naruto was silent a moment trying to get his courage.

"It's just that...have you noticed how some of the villagers don't like me?"

Temari nodded her head.

"There's a reason for it. It's not as bad as it used to be lately but I guess I can see why many of the older generation didn't like me." Naruto said. "Do you know of the Kyuubi attack over thirteen years ago?"

Temari nodded, "Yeah I read about it. The great Nine-Tailed Fox the most powerful of all the Biju, it attacked here and it was your Fourth Hokage that killed it."

"Well, it turns out that it wasn't really killed," Naruto said.

Temari was confused as everyone knew the story, even those outside the village. It was said even Iwagakure no Sato celebrated the death of the Fourth every year on October 10th. There was something about that date that was nagging her for some reason; it took her a moment to realize that it was Naruto's birthday. She had memorized as much on him that Suna had and it was listed his birthday as October 10th. In fact doing the math he had been born on the day the demon had attacked.

Then she remembered his fight with Gaara, when he had turned himself and that huge toad into a replica of the Nine-Tails. The sudden realization came crashing down on her, and why shouldn't it, after all if she was right then Naruto was exactly like Gaara.

"You're a Jinchuriki." She said surprised by the revelation.

Naruto was taken aback by that, he didn't figure that she would figure it out. She was a lot smarter than he had originally thought.

"So...you're like Gaara then," She said to him.

"Uh...yeah," Naruto nodded his head a little afraid to look her in the eyes. He didn't want to see any fear in them, he was actually starting to like her and it would be just like his luck for her to not like him because of the stupid fox in his body.

"A lot of the older generation didn't like me because they saw me as the demon and not the jailer," Naruto said sadly. "They never did anything physical...but no one would look at me and the few that did they only gave me those cold eyes. Some would say things like 'demon brat' and 'monster' to me."

Temari couldn't help but feel bad, she had seen what that kind of life had done to Gaara. It was amazing that Naruto hadn't turned out the same.

"So everyone knows?"

Naruto shook his head, "The Third placed a law that no one was to talk about it or tell anyone else. The Old Man hoped that everyone in the younger generation would see me normally, but it didn't work out so good."

Temari could guess, the parents would most likely encourage their children to have the same behaviour towards Naruto that they had. Children, being children wouldn't really question their parents after all? In a way it made her sick but then again how was she any different? Maybe if she had tried harder to be a better sister to Gaara he wouldn't have turned out the same way. Her father had told her and Kankuro to avoid Gaara and like the good daughter she had done that.

It was just another reason she felt nothing for her father, he had torn their family apart.

"I was alone for a very long time," Naruto said to her but then a small smile got on his lips. "But I had the Old Man, he could visit me often and then I found Iruka-sensei. And now I have a lot of friends and people that care for me, and people who I will protect."

Temari was amazed that he could think that way, was this was what got through to Gaara? Was this the reason that he had liked the idea of her marrying Naruto, because her baby brother could relate to the other boy? To go through that kind of life and not end up like Gaara spoke to Temari of the kind of inner strength the boy had. She smiled a little remembering how she had seen that strength in the chunin exams and against Gaara himself.

Naruto's smile faded a bit, "Anyways I just figured you deserved to know the truth before the wedding. That you should know what you're getting into and...well I guess I can understand if...if you wouldn't want to be with me."

There was a sudden silence and then Naruto felt a fist hitting the back of his head.

"Baka!" Temari shouted angrily at him. "You really think that would mean much to me?"

Naruto holding the back of his head looked at her surprised.

"My brother when through all of that too, he's like you remember?"

"Well yeah, but you were really scared of Gaara weren't you?" He asked her confused. He would remember the terror that had been on her face when Gaara first showed up in that tree. He had been afraid to see that look of terror in her eyes when she was looking at him. But she wasn't afraid of him, angry sure but he could live with that.

Temari's anger fell away knowing what he was getting at. "I was afraid of Gaara, for so long he would have killed anyone if he felt like it. It was always dangerous being around him, but after you two fought something in him had changed. Before I came here we were actually repairing our relationship. I don't know if I ever thanked you for that but I do."

She looked him in the eyes and gave him a small smile, "Thank you for giving me my brother back."

Naruto blinked a few times and smiled, he remembered how Gaara had seemed different but he hadn't known about how Temari wasn't terrified of him anymore.

Temari sighed as she recomposed herself, "Anyways it doesn't matter. It does explain a few things about you though."

"You're the first person I told this secret to," Naruto said a bit happy how she took it. "I mean I was afraid if others found out they would treat me like the older generation."

"Well they're idiots," she said to him. "And you're an idiot for thinking that of me. You should learn to trust me more, after all we're going to be married soon, so we might as well start to trust each other more."

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Yeah you're right. I promise, no more secrets between us."

Temari nodded her head in agreement.

"So, how come the demon hasn't overcome you?" Temari asked out of curiosity. "I mean Gaara can't sleep because of that demon and he's got the weakest in him."

Naruto blinked not sure exactly, "I guess the seal on me is different. I've only talked to the damn fox once...after I got pushed off a cliff, stupid Ero-Sennin."

"He pushed you off a cliff!?" Temari wondered what the hell was wrong with that old pervert.

"It was to get me to draw on the Fox's chakra and although I hate it, it did work."

Temari made a mental note to not take any kind of training with that old man, he seemed to take things to the extreme. "Can I see your seal?"

Naruto blushed a bit as he pulled up his shirt, he closed his eyes and gathered the chakra. Temari was curious as the kind of seal that was on Naruto, she wanted to see the difference between this one and the one on her brother. Basically she wanted a comparison to see if there might be a reason why they had such a difference. She got her answer when she saw the seal on Naruto's stomach of all places.

Temari wasn't a seal master or even know all that much other than the basics but just by looking at the seal she knew it wasn't a normal one. It was the most complex thing she had ever seen, she tried to figure out the bits and pieces she could guess at but over all it was way beyond her. It was also a lot more complex and strong than what Gaara had on him. This explained why Naruto wasn't tormented by his demon, it was held back by the power of this seal.

"You're lucky you know that."

Naruto was confused by her statement when he pulled down his shirt.

"That kind of seal would let you have a lot more control, Gaara isn't so lucky." Temari sighed. "Even with your help he's constantly at war with the demon, he has been all his life. If he had a seal like this on him he might have had a lot more control and even able to sleep normally."

Naruto hadn't thought about it that way, he always cursed the fact he had this sealed in him when he found out. But after meeting Gaara he could see where he could have easily been like that. If the Fox ever got more control over him, he knew the Fox would make him harm anyone and everything around him.

Then he thought that maybe there was a way to help him, he only just learned how to seal stuff into scroll. But Naruto did remember how Jiraiya had helped him with that thing Orochimaru did to his seal. A smile grew on his face as he planned to ask him the next time he saw him, if he could help Gaara with this seal like he had done with Naruto's.

Now though he was feeling a lot better, he had been so worried that Temari would reject him but he guessed he should have known better.

She was the first person that he had admitted his greatest secret too and she had accepted him and it felt great. But in the end things had worked out and he was hoping that maybe his friends would one day accept this truth as well, when he was ready that is to tell them.

"Naruto." Temari said to him.

"Yeah?" He asked and just as he turned he was hit on the head with her battle fan. Now he may have a hard head, but that thing was heavy and it hurt like hell. He fell onto his back covering his head.

"What was that for!?" Naruto managed to say after a moment.

"That was for something called 'Sexy Jutsu'," She said angrily and Naruto froze up. He looked up at the very angry girl towering over him.

"Uh…how did you know about that?" Naruto asked carefully, the pain in his head forgotten for the moment. He was too scared to feel pain.

"I met that little brat, Konohamaru." She grinned evilly at him.

Naruto groaned in his head, for the first time he really wished he hadn't taught him that move. He yelped out when she grabbed him by his collar and glared daggers at him right into his face. He was nervously sweating by now, he had forgotten how scary she could be when she was pissed.

"Now you look here," Temari said dangerously. "We can't get out of his marriage but there will be some ground rules. First off, you are never to use that thing in public. I may be a Leaf genin now, but I am still the daughter of a kage and we both have to put on a good face in the public because of the alliance our marriage represents."

"Further more, you will not teach that to any of our children. It's bad enough that you taught a child such a thing but you will not do the same for ours. You got that?" She told him and he flat out nodded his head as fast as he could.

"Good," she said calmly and dropped him. "But make no mistake Naruto, you'll have a lot of foot rubs to make up for that."

She walked off leaving a sore and confused Naruto behind her. He rubbed his head as he squinted his eyes as he thought, one moment she was understanding, then she was violent and scary.

Plus what was that about kids!?

"Arg! I'm never going to understand women!" Naruto moaned out holding his head.

**Next up Chapter 13: The Incident**


	13. The Incident

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 13: The Incident**

It had been a couple of days since Naruto had told Temari his secret and things had gone well, after she had calmed down. He found out that his soon to be wife could hold a grudge; it was still odd to think they were going to be married soon. Tsunade was already saying that she was putting Shizune in charge of organizing it, although Naruto felt that his 'big sister' had enough to deal with under Tsunade at times. He already had to read up on this scroll about wedding ceremonies. He needed someone to stand by him as his best man, he planned to ask Sasuke but given his attitude lately he was thinking of a back up just in case.

He had been talking with Temari and she agreed to have Moegi for her flower girl and he would ask the young girl the next time he saw her with Konohamaru. He was going to ask the boy to be the ring bearer for it, knowing full well the boy would be excited for the job.

The only thing that he wasn't looking forward to was the traditional sake used in it, he wasn't sure even if he was old enough to drink. Turns out that once someone became a genin they were a legal adult in the eyes of the village. After all you couldn't send 'children' into battle and to kill or be killed. So long ago it was agreed by all Five Kages that regardless of age, a genin was an adult and would be treated like one. Although this only was seen in ninja villages of course, apparently there were plenty of civilian villages that didn't always know about that law.

At any rate Naruto had a lot on his mind. He had just finished his shower and had changed in the bathroom to save time. He placed his dirty clothing in the hamper that Temari told him to use from now on. Okay so his room was cleaner now without the clothing all over the place and he could find things but it took getting used to the habit.

Temari was in her room looking over some scrolls for the marriage when he passed by, he reminded her that they had training soon and she said she would meet him there. After all it wasn't like they could be late as Kakashi was hardly ever on time, although their sensei did seem to be more preoccupied lately.

Naruto also needed to quickly get certain things he needed for the wedding as well, mainly he needed formal wear and some kind of dagger. He hoped that Iruka would be able to help him out on that as well.

'_Man, who knew that there was so much to do for a wedding?'_ Naruto thought as he exited the home. _'And I still need to get to Baa-chan to go over other things for it as well.'_

At first he thought it would be just a simple affair, then again he had never been to a wedding before. Plus since this was a political marriage it meant the council will be there, heads of all the clans, important people of the village and those from Suna that would be arriving as well. The thought of being in the center of all that actually made him feel a little nervous. Naruto was currently on his way to track down Konohamaru before training when he suddenly realized something.

"Damn it! I forgot my headband!" Naruto had never forgotten that before, it was just proof of how much was on his mind to actually forget it. He quickly created a shadow clone and told him to go and get it and meet him at training with it. Naruto ran off as he only had a little time to track down the young boy and ask him to be his ring bearer. The shadow clone ran off toward the bathroom knowing exactly where it was, since those clones were perfect copies of the original.

What neither Naruto nor his clone knew was that Temari had just finished her morning shower. She was just drying her hair when she noticed a leaf headband near the sink. She picked it up and sighed, it wasn't hers which meant it was Naruto's.

"Honestly that guy would lose his head with the way he gets so excited," Temari sighed. She would give it to him later when they met up for training. Apparently he told her yesterday that he was going to see that scarf brat about something. She reached for the doorway and it was at this moment that the clone had come running. She pulled the door open just as the clone slammed into her. If the clone had hit her any harder then the clone would have dispersed. But thanks to Temari softening the blow it wasn't.

The bad news was that the way they landed, Temari totally naked on her back with what she assumed was Naruto. She had thought he left hence why she hadn't put the towel around her chest before opening the door. She lay there totally frozen in shock.

The clone had no idea what happened, he saw a flash of something like skin before hitting something. His face was against something soft, warm and slightly wet and not just his face. He was sure he was laying on something but his face was pressed into something soft. He reached up with one hand to push himself up but the hand gripped the thing next to his face. It was round alright, firm too and there seemed to be some kind of a nub on it. The clone had no idea what he was feeling but he pushed up and he froze in horror.

There beneath him was Temari, a very naked Temari, a very red and naked Temari. He noticed his hand was gripped on one of her breasts. The clone suddenly got a nose bleed as this was the first real naked girl he had seen and he was groping her too.

That was when Temari in a very unlike Temari manner did what any woman would do, she shrieked.

The clone covering his bloody nose left back onto his butt. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Temari pulled up her legs and covered her breasts with one arm now looking embarrassed and pissed off.

"PERVERT!"

"Wait, I'm a cl-" The clone didn't finish before her free hand punched the clone in the face and this time it did disperse.

She stared in confusion at first but then her anger started to grow, "NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Meanwhile the real Naruto had been leaping from building to building when a sudden image and sensations hit him. Normally he had never noticed that he got all the memories and experiences of his clones, this was for several reasons. In a fight things got hectic and he never paid attention to anyone other than who he had been fighting. Another was that he just never thought about it. The main was that he was as dense as a brick at times.

But the image of a naked Temari and the feel of her breast was one image that he couldn't ignore. He first got a huge nose bleed as he covered it with his hands unfortunately this caused him to trip and fall onto the rooftop he landed. He lay there in total shock and confusion.

"What the hell was that!?" Naruto yelled out. "D-did that really happen or was I just imagining things?"

For the first time he really thought about the memory he just got and he was surprised to learn that he remembered seeing himself, then going through the home and then...the bathroom.

"I got to find Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he went in search of his teacher to hopefully explain things. Maybe it was just all in his head, he hoped so because Temari would be so angry with him if that had actually happened.

-**Training Field-**

Kakashi was making his way to the training field, he was a bit late but that wasn't unusual. Although, lately Kakashi had been too busy to pay his normal respects to Obito and Rin. (even though her body was never found, she was presumed dead).

So far he had managed to get Jiraiya to look at Anko's mark and Kakashi had gone over a few seal improvements. Although it was still guess work, since the only person that truly understood the curse marks was Orochimaru, progress was being made up. He could see how Anko was getting a little impatient but she was keeping it bottled up, he couldn't blame her. If he found a way to help seal off the mark, Anko would love it. Then maybe he could see about Sasuke, and not a moment too soon. Lately the last Uchiha had been more distant and brooding lately.

But at least the other members seemed to be doing fine, Sakura was training hard for once and was improving. Temari was starting to fit in and Naruto was improving the most. He was glad that Temari was a wind user, as she was the perfect teacher for Naruto, and it would make them closer.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi looked up to see a familiar orange blur running towards him.

"Naruto, what are you doing here instead of your team?" Kakashi asked and then noticed something. "Where's your headband?"

Naruto blushed for some reason that made Kakashi raise a single eyebrow a bit. Obviously something had happened.

"Uh…forgot it in the bathroom…" Naruto looked about.

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto I'm surprised at you for forgetting it. No matter but don't make a habit of it, since this is a first time you've done this I'll overlook it."

Forgetting the leaf headband while on duty was actually an offence in most ninja villages. Even though ninja dress codes were extremely relaxed, the headband was to always been worn with the exception of black op missions when you can't be identified. For a genin to forget it, well it wasn't too big a deal. Usually a small fine or punishment by the sensei would be enough. It got worse the higher in rank you went.

"Anyways, there's something important I need to ask you!" Naruto shouted out as usual.

"Well what is it?" Kakashi asked him, it was obviously important for the boy.

"Uh…you use shadow clones too right?" Naruto asked remembering the battle on the bridge in Wave. "Well, do you ever remember anything they do?"

Kakashi just looked at him for a long moment, blinking a few times. He honestly didn't think that Naruto hadn't noticed until now. With the ways he used shadow clones, one would think he would notice that the clones sent all their experience back to the original.

"Naruto, are you telling me you haven't noticed until just now, that the experiences of your shadow clones go to you after they dispel?" Kakashi asked him.

Naruto got a surprised look on his face. "Huh? You mean that's supposed to happen."

Kakashi nearly face faulted at that point. "Naruto, of course it's supposed to happen. I know how you learned the technique from the forbidden scroll, didn't you read the explanation of it?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh, not really. I wasn't really paying that much attention."

Kakashi hung his head for a moment. He should have seen that coming. "Anyway, that's the point of shadow clones Naruto. You see, they're used mainly for information gathering. You send one into a dangerous area and anything they see you get at a safe distance. They are perfect copies, hence why they can go on their own unlike the simple clones."

Naruto blinked a few times.

"Okay, say you need to read three scrolls. You can use a shadow clone to read the other two and you can learn in a fraction of the time." Kakashi explained simply to him.

"Oh I get it," Naruto suddenly fully understood. "Hey if I can learn in a fraction of the time, does that mean I can train faster too?"

Kakashi thought about it, normally that wouldn't be possible. Shadow clones could be very hard on a person with long use, but for some reason, Naruto was perfect for it. Actually while thinking on that, there could be something to it after all.

"Well, you would still have to work on your physical body. Shadow clones can't help you in that area."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"Because if physical change could be transferred, any damage they got would be transferred to you. And given the number of lethal blows your clones have taken…" Kakashi trailed off. Naruto gulped and nodded, he knew exactly what his sensei was talking about, and now he was glad that physical stuff wasn't transferred.

Kakashi continued on with his explanation. "Anyways, things like practicing fighting moves, meditation to increase focus, chakra use. Those kinds of things could be done. If you use one shadow clone for training and focus on its knowledge, then you'll train twice as fast, if you have three then you'll train three times as fast."

Naruto's eye lit up at the possibilities now. With the number of clones he could make, he could train fifty times faster than anyone else. He got a huge grin on his face as he couldn't wait to try this out.

"Thanks a lot Kakashi-sensei!"

"Just be careful Naruto, no one has ever trained like that before. So please, don't overdo it for once," Kakashi told him.

"Who do you think I am?" He grinned up at the man.

Kakashi sighed, _'Someone who always rushes in head first and always overdoes things, that's who.'_

They made their way back to the training field and he noticed that Naruto suddenly tensed up. Kakashi cast a glance at the genin and tried to find what was making him nervous. He saw Temari there with a deep blush as she looked away not even paying attention to Naruto.

'_Trouble in paradise huh,_' Kakashi mentally sighed. It was expected something would happen, no couple was perfect and they were forced into this after all. He just hoped whatever was wrong they would be able to work it out.

Temari when she saw Naruto couldn't even look at him, she felt her face heat up as she quickly turned away from him. She couldn't even speak to him, especially since she couldn't yell at him for what happened. The last thing she wanted to know was for what happened to get out.

Naruto knew that it hadn't actually been 'him' that had, well, groped her. But he still remembered it, and how she looked and felt. He quickly tried not to think about it, he could feel the nose bleed coming on. Although it had felt so good, he didn't know a girl could feel that nice.

'_Damn it, I'm hanging around Ero-sennin too much!'_ Naruto yelled in his mind.

"Uh...Temari?" Naruto nervously ask. He was making sure he was out of her range if she decided to hit him, which he felt he had coming anyway. Although what he wasn't expecting was the silent treatment, she wasn't even looking at him and for a moment he thought she hadn't heard him.

"Temari?" He said a bit louder. "oh come on, I'm sorry it was a total accident!"

Still nothing and now he was getting worried, sure he got her mad before. But before, she would always yell at him, this silent treatment was a lot worse. Naruto also knew that he really screwed up this time as well. He was about to say something when she threw an object at him. He flinched and prepared to guard just in case, but he saw the item on the ground in front of him.

It was his headband, he grinned as he picked it up and put it on.

"Hey thanks, Temari!" He smiled at her thinking everything was okay. But she just walked past him and his smile dropped.

'_Yeah...she's still mad,'_ Naruto thought._ 'How the hell am I going to make up for this?'_

**-Temari-**

Temari was still a little fuming over this morning, after all how else could you react to...well what had happened. She crossed her arms coconsciously, remembering his hand on her breast. She had never let a boy touch her in that kind of way before let alone seeing her naked. Her face burned up at that, sure it had been a shadow clone but still she felt mortified. Plus she wasn't too sure but Naruto kept blushing when he looked at her, she wasn't sure how shadow clones worked but she was wondering if he knew what had happened. The fact he tried to apologize to her even more so meant he knew.

At the moment she just wanted to keep her distance, to cool off at any rate.

In a normal case, the offending boy she would have had killed him for such a thing. But Naruto was going to be her husband and she was supposed to have at least one child, so of course being naked in front of him would have to happen. But not by surprising her in the shower like that. Plus she couldn't kill him, which would be bad for political reasons.

That and maybe, because lately she had grown to like him a bit. He had been the nicest person to her that she could remember and she did enjoy spending time with him now and then too. He opened up with his big secret and she couldn't help but feel for him now, every time she looked at him now, he reminded her of her brother in some ways.

Plus he really was a sweet guy, and she could have done a lot worse for herself. She could have ended up in some loveless marriage or maybe even have been killed before she ever got this far. Sure, she wasn't in love with him but for the first time she was considering opening her heart to another. Naruto wouldn't be someone that would hurt her, at least on purpose and despite his obvious flaws, she saw the potential in him.

But that didn't meant she had to just forgive him right off the bat, hell no she was pissed and he would have to work his ass off to make this better.

She stopped when she noticed that there was someone coming up to her. She narrowed her eyes slightly in study, he looked like he was an older man but it was kind of hard to tell. His body when not covered in that cloak, was covered in many bandages. He limped pretty badly and got around with a cane as well. But despite this the way he walked, she could see the purpose and the years of Shinobi training behind it. Obviously he was someone who had once been a ninja, but those days were long over.

The man stopped in front of her almost as if he was gauging her.

"Greetings, Temari. I am Danzo," he told her.

"What can I do for you?" Temari asked him neutrally. She had heard mention of this man, although not part of the council officially, he was supposed to have some major influence. Although beyond that, there wasn't much information they had found on him.

"I'm just seeing how things are going," Danzo said. "The council just wants some assurances that there are no issues between you and Naruto. After all, this is a major event coming up for both our villages."

Temari wasn't sure but she thought she didn't like this man already. It wasn't that he was mean or nasty, in fact he was trying to come off as pretty neutral in all of this. But there was one thing that she first noticed, he reminded her of her father. The way he stood there and how he talked, it was like seeing a ghost of her dead father in this man. Just because of that, she felt her guard go up. Men like this she knew she had to be careful of, they would come off as harmless but hidden was a threat you didn't want unleashed on you.

Now she was quickly trying to see just how much of those injuries were real, and what could be just an act. Even if they weren't an act to put others at ease, that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.

"Things are going...well," She told him. "Thank you for asking."

Danzo gave her a long look, his face totally expressionless but she could tell he wasn't pleased with her response.

"Well, just remember what this marriage means. As a ninja you know what duty is and I would hate to think that Suna sent us a ninja, that couldn't or even wouldn't live up to the agreement."

"Are you saying I'm not?" Temari said with a hint of anger.

"I would never say such a thing," he told her. "I am just an old man making conversation, besides you seem like a ninja that knows what duty is. You also seem to be the kind that knows what happens, to those that fail their duty."

Temari knew a veiled threat when she heard it. This man was definitely like her father, cold and manipulative and extremely dangerous. She could see how such a man held power, he didn't come at you up front, no, he came at you sideways or from behind. She would have to remember to be on her guard at all times with this man. She also felt that being on his bad side could be unpleasant as well.

"I know my duty and the price of failure as do all Suna ninja," she told him standing up straight. She could tell that any sign of weakness would be bad in this case. He was the type that could smell weakness and use it to his advantage.

"Ah, but you're not a Suna ninja anymore are you?" Danzo pointed out. "But at any rate, your loyalty is to this village now and I hope you remember that. Many eyes are on you, as you know how Suna already betrayed us once before. There are those that feel you can't be trusted."

Temari knew that was coming, although she could hardly blame Konoha for any mistrust. They had broken the peace between them, there was no telling how many people had lost the lives of loved ones in that battle.

"I know the consequences if this alliance fails," Temari told him. "I have no intention of putting Suna through a war with Konoha."

Danzo seemed to consider her words, she wasn't saying that she was totally loyal to either village but yet implying she wouldn't put her home at risk.

"Very well then, I can try and put the minds of the others at ease then." Danzo told her, he could help to smooth things over. Besides having her in his debt, even just a small one was worth having. "I do hope that you are not disappointed in the match with Naruto. There was some debate on if you should actually be wed to him, personally I think he is perfect for this."

"Oh?" This caught her off guard. She didn't expect him to approve of Naruto, not given his generation's attitude towards him.

"Oh yes, he's a very special case. In fact, I once petitioned the old Hokage to have the boy to be raised and trained," Danzo told her honestly. "I could see the potential but so much time was wasted. He could have been so much more than he is now but I hear his progress has improved, thanks to some of your effort."

"He's, surprising."

Danzo nodded. "Yes and you are a very strong young woman too. I look forward to seeing the kind of children you two will have. Somehow I think it would be very interesting to see how they develop. Plus I can ensure you, that they will receive only the very best here, that is if you chose it."

With that Danzo turned and walked off, leaving Temari behind to think. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a cold pit in her stomach at the moment. This Danzo person had both flattered and threatened her both at the same time. She wasn't sure what he was after, but why did he mention children? Did he have plans for any future children she had, and he had mentioned wanting to train Naruto when he was younger.

She suddenly got the impression he wanted to train her future children, and even though she had no plans at the moment to have children. But the thought of that man anywhere near her future kids made her feel afraid. She sighed, she should have known this was going to be a bad day for her since the shower incident.

**Next up Chapter 14: Making up is Hard to Do**


	14. Making up is hard to do

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 14: Making up is Hard to Do**

Naruto was not in a good mood, not even eating at his favourite place in the world was helping. It had been a couple of days and even though Temari wasn't totally ignoring him, she was still angry with him. He had no idea of how to fix something like this, he hadn't been in a relationship before but he tried. First he tried to make breakfast for her in bed, it was going well.

That is until he opened the door while she had been changing, he hadn't seen anything but she obviously thought he was a pervert now. He really just seemed to be having bad luck. He thought of flowers, so he got Ino's help in picking something nice with a meaning behind them that said how sorry he was.

Turns out Temari was allergic to those types of flowers, she had been sneezing for hours with red puffy eyes and very annoyed with him for it. No matter what it just seemed he kept messing up and he was seriously coming to the end of his rope.

Another realization came to him in the past few days as well. He missed the things he did with Temari, the training they did together, how she would show him how to cook a few new dishes, how they would talk over meals and hang out. He even missed the dates too. Sure they hadn't been 'together' for that long, for someone like Naruto it was different though.

He had lived alone and been alone for most of his life, to have someone in his life like this was better than he had thought. Now it was almost like how it was before and he hated it. The other thing he started to realize was that, he was actually starting to like her. She didn't see him as the 'dead last' like most did, she actually saw something in him and tried to help him get stronger. Hell, he was stronger thanks to her and he knew with her help he could get a lot stronger too.

He also missed her smile, it happened only a few times but it was a nice smile. He missed her laugh and how when they were alone she let her guard down a bit and was more relaxed. She was also the first person he had told his greatest secret to and she accepted him for it. It felt so good to be accepted totally without hold that back.

He wasn't sure when it had happened but he knew now that he actually liked Temari, sure maybe not loved her but she was one of his precious people and she was important to him now. He could definitely see himself eventually loving her but at this rate not anytime soon, at least not until he could fix this.

Which led to him sitting depressed at the Ichiraku ramen stand, instead of wolfing down the ramen like a starving man condemned to a death sentence, he was just slowly eating his food. Both Ayame and Teuchi knew something was seriously wrong with the boy.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked the boy that was like a little brother to her.

Naruto gave a depressed sigh, "I keep trying to make up for something with Temari and I keep screwing things up."

"Like what?" Teuchi asked and when Naruto explained his attempts so far both ramen stand workers flinched. "Ouch, yeah I can see why I haven't seen you two together here then."

"Dad, that's not nice!" Ayame scolded her father for his bluntness. "Anyway, maybe you should try something new."

"I'm afraid to try," Naruto said honestly. What if he tried and it blew up in his face again?

Before Ayame could say a response the familiar voices of two girls were heard.

"I'm telling you something is going on with Temari and Naruto, Forehead." Ino's voice could be heard.

"Look Ino-pig, I know there is something off but is it really that bad?" Sakura's voice was heard too.

"Well let's see if he's here and we can ask him," Ino said as both girls entered the stand. "Ah there you are Naruto, oh man you look like crap."

"Ino!" Sakura shouted at her and then looked at Naruto. He looked even more depressed than the last time she had seen him. She sat down next to her teammate and friend. "Naruto is everything okay?"

Naruto sighed and his head hit the counter as a depressed groan came from him.

"He's having trouble making up with Temari," Ayame told the girls as it looked like Naruto was in no shape to tell them himself. By the end both girls could see why Naruto was so depressed lately. The ideas had been good ones but things just didn't go to well, Ino felt a bit bad with her choices of flowers. She hadn't known that Temari would be allergic to those types and felt bad in her part of it.

"Well what got her so mad to begin with?" Sakura asked wondering how this all started.

Naruto was about to say the reason until his survival instincts kicked in. She stiffened at the thought of what those two girls would do to him if they found out. Sakura hit pretty hard when mad and he was sure Ino wasn't too far behind her either he really didn't want both girls to think he had tried to take advantage of Temari or something. Also if Temari found out he told anyone what had happened, if the girls didn't kill him, Temari would finish off what was left.

"Uh…it's kind of personal and embarrassing," Naruto blushed. It didn't help that ever since that incident sometimes he could catch himself staring at Temari when she wasn't looking. He could still remember what she looked like naked and the feel of her skin.

"Naruto," Sakura said in a slightly angry voice. She could sense something, she wasn't sure what but something was making her 'pervert' sense going off. Ino's eyes narrowed as well as she felt something behind that as well.

Naruto quickly sat up straight as he began to panic, "L-look it really is personal, and Temari wouldn't want me talking about it! Can't you help me out of this at least?"

Sakura and Ino shared a look; they decided they would drop this at least for now. Besides, for Ino she had been helping Naruto with his bride to be. The hopeless romantic in her wanted to see the two blondes fall in love and have the happy ending that she always dreamed of having when she married. And it was no small wonder which dark haired boy was the star in those fantasies either. Plus how could she get Sasuke to be hers, if she couldn't help Naruto get the woman he was going to marry?

Sakura just wanted to help her friend, lately she and Naruto had gotten a lot closer. Maybe it was because he had stopped trying to gain her heart and had settled for just her friendship. She was actually glad to have Naruto as a friend lately and she didn't like to see him like this. Plus she was sure that Temari wasn't happy, and the older girl was someone she was starting to consider a friend as well.

"Well there are a few things that you can do," Sakura started off as both she and Ino told him all the things a girl liked to get for gifts. They went into jewellery, clothing, chocolates as well. Then they went into things like taking her out to dinner or some kind of major date to make up for whatever he had done. The girls told him anything they could think of and Naruto tried to keep it all straight.

"Okay thanks," Naruto said after the lessons on what girls might like. "I think I'll go and see what I can find."

"Later Naruto," Sakura called out to him. "I hope he finds something."

"Yeah," Ino said nodding. "Hey how about we invite Temari out with the other girls? I mean we hardly know her other than you and I bet she must be a bit lonely in a village full of strangers."

"That sounds like a good idea," Sakura smiled at the thought. "I'll ask her tomorrow."

**-Later-**

Naruto wasn't sure what to do, sure Sakura and Ino had given him some ideas but honestly what was he to get Temari? So far everything else had blown up in his face and he didn't know anything like dress size or ring size for jewellery. Plus he wasn't sure Temari even liked that stuff, she didn't really wear or have much of that stuff like jewellery. The only thing she carried around was her huge battle fan. He thought that maybe a new weapon would help him out.

He paused at that thought, she didn't have anything for close combat other than the standard kunai and shuriken, but what if he could find something really cool for her to use?

Naruto got a huge grin as he went looking for a weapons store. Ever since the chunin exams a few more stores had actually been kinder to him so lately he had been experimenting with looking into new stores. Sure the ones that had always accepted him were good, but he had been too afraid to shop around in fear of being kicked out.

He soon found a weapons store that he had seen but never gone into before, mainly cause the weapons looked kind of expensive. But with all the new money he might be able to afford some new gear in fact he made a mental note to buy better quality equipment when he could. He walked in seeing a store filled with weapons there were everything from swords to daggers, axes (which he thought was weird for ninja) and a few weapons he couldn't even name.

Naruto looked through it all and was amazed at the things he saw.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a female voice called out. "I was in the back helping out, how can I...Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the counter to see a surprised Tenten there. "Hey do you work here?"

"Yeah," Tenten smiled at seeing him. "Well I sometimes work here, when my team isn't on missions I help out and since Lee is still recovering I have more time to spend here."

"How is he doing?" Naruto wondered about Lee.

"He's doing great," Tenten beamed, "Tsunade-sama healed him up and he'll continue being a ninja again. She's just the greatest there is."

"Yeah, Baa-chan is pretty great."

"Naruto!" Tenten shouted suddenly. "Don't call the Hokage that!"

"Why not?" Naruto asked her as if it was perfectly natural to call her that. "I mean she's fifty and hides behind that genjutsu of hers."

"Still you should show some respect to her," Tenten muttered. She idolized Tsunade, she wanted to be a lot like her and she just didn't know how Naruto managed to get away with that kind of stuff. She sighed and went to why he was here. "So are you here for new weapons?"

"Yeah I was hoping you could help me out," Naruto then told her who he was looking a weapon for. He didn't go into major detail just that he was looking for a present for Temari and a close range weapon would be perfect for her.

Tenten had to admit that to her, that was a very nice gift but then again she thought any good weapon was a good gift. She thought about what type of weapons she had for someone like Temari, having firsthand knowledge of how the girl fought. Although she still felt embarrassed to how badly she had lost, she still was looking for ways to improve since then.

So Tenten showed Naruto all the types of weapons that Temari might like and could use. At first Naruto wasn't sure what Temari would like and went with what Tenten showed him. Then he found something that caught his eye and asked Tenten to show him. She went into detail about the weapon and already Naruto could tell that Temari would love it.

The only downside was the cost, it was going to put a cramp in his savings and his wallet would take a major hit, but it would be worth it if this would work. In fact if this didn't get him out of trouble then he wasn't sure what was.

**-Hokage Tower-**

Anko wasn't sure why she had been called into to the Tower, only that she was to report to room 218. This was odd because as far as she knew that was part of the research part of the Tower. A slim hope took hold that maybe Kakashi had come up with something for her seal. Ever since she had started to help Kakashi with this she had been hoping for something to keep the curse seal in check. She hated when the seal acted up, like when she had certain nightmares or like in the Forest of Death. She had been so weak and helpless, she should be dead now but only because Orochimaru in some sick pleasure he got, left her alive.

She started to think a bit more about Kakashi as well, she didn't really know him all that well. In fact most of what she knew came from other sources like Gai, Kurenai and Asuma. Even then, they didn't know much which left Anko a puzzle and she hated puzzles. Mainly because she hated missing pieces like her memories and blank pieces of information only pissed her off, plus he was hard to figure out as well.

You couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling since he not only wore a mask, but also seemed to 'mask' his emotions too. It was a little irritating at times because she wasn't sure what was an act and what was real with the guy. But she did know one thing, he had earned his reputation. She once snuck a peek at his files that she was cleared to see and she was surprised by what she saw. The list of moves and jutsus he knew was staggering and then there was his mission success rate.

It was better than her own success rate and she hated not being on top in anything.

Although as they talked about her seal eventually they moved to other things as they spent some time together. She learned how he had actually stood up to Orochimaru while he had put that counter seal on Sasuke, that in her books either mean that Kakashi was very brace or really stupid. Maybe a bit of both but then again she couldn't say any different about herself.

She got to the room and when she entered she found not only Kakashi leaning over a table but she saw Jiraiya himself there as well. She had only seen him a few times and never really met the man, but she knew his reputation or more like reputations if you counted his non-ninja exploits.

Kakashi noticed her first and gave her that strange eye smile of his, "Hey there Anko, there is something we want you to see."

"Ah so this is the young thing you've been hiding away with," Jiraiya gave a perverted grin at Anko. "You have good tastes Kakashi."

"How would you like to a model for a new character I've been working on for a new book?" Jiraiya asked.

Anko gave him a sultry look as she swayed her hips to Jiraiya, she moved like a snake towards the man whose face was masked with surprise but quickly turned to his most perverted grin. Kakashi blinked in surprise as well as he couldn't take his eye off her movements, he didn't know that Anko could move like that.

"Well I would have to say..." Anko said in a husky voice and then pulled out a kunai to the man's throat. "That if you don't keep your little brain out of this I'll cut it off and give it to Tsunade-sama as a trophy."

"Point taken-point taken!" Jiraiya moved slightly away and glared at Kakashi who was chuckling.

"So, what's all this?" Anko asked looking at the table. On it were many different pieces of paper with many different designs on them. It took her a moment to see that they were all different seal designs.

"We think we may have found a new stronger seal to use," Kakashi told her pulling one sheet forward.

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes, using Kakashi's previous method as a template I've put my own knowledge into it. Now it should work a bit better although this won't completely seal it and if you ever did try to use the curse mark this seal would be totally useless."

"Hey I'll take what I can get," Anko grinned at the image on the paper. She tried making sense of it but it was way beyond her. She knew seals but nothing this advanced although something odd was about it. "Hey, how does this thing work exactly?"

"A person sits in the center of the seal," Kakashi told her pointing it out on the paper. "It's pretty much the same only the design is more complex."

"So I just sit in the center or what?" She asked and noticed Kakashi got a little nervous for some reason.

"Not...exactly."

"You need to be naked as the seals are drawn onto your body." Jiraiya giggled.

"What!?" Anko turned to the old pervert and then Kakashi.

"You don't have to be naked," Kakashi quickly said. "At least, not totally I had to drawn the seal on Sasuke's upper body."

Anko gave the masked man a hard look not sure what to think about this. Sure she was willing to put some kind of damn leash on this seal on her neck, but being topless as someone draws on her wasn't what she had in mind. Okay, so maybe that sounded fun in another context but not in this.

"Well I would be more than happy to help out," Jiraiya grinned at her only to be met by a fist to the face. He fell onto his back holding his hands to his face.

"Not likely," Anko said coldly. Then she looked at Kakashi and sighed, if this what it was going to take she would have to do it, but she was going to get compensated for it. "Alright Kakashi just name the time and place but if you're going to see me topless then you'll have to do something for me to make it fair."

"Like what?" Kakashi asked wondering what she had in mind.

"Now where is the fun in that?" Anko grinned at him and walked out the door leaving both men to stare at the closed door.

"My boy," Jiraiya said slowly getting up. "I don't know if I envy you or not now."

Although Jiraiya did know was that he seemed to have stumbled upon a new side story for his new book. If the things he caught Naruto and Temari doing helped out then this little thing with Kakashi and Anko would be a nice companion piece to it. He was already thinking of all the things he could do with them, maybe the mysterious masked man and the snake charmer woman as characters? He quickly pulled out his notes and started to write these ideas down.

**-Uzumaki Home-**

Temari was not having a good day, actually make that a good week. First there was the shower incident, then that meeting with Danzo had put her on edge. Then there were Naruto's attempts to apologize which ended up blowing up in _her_ face. She was just thankful that she didn't get a rash from those flowers on top of everything else she got from them. She was currently thinking just forgiving him, since his making things up to her were turning out to be disasters.

A part of her was actually afraid of what he would do next.

She sighed as she went up to her room so far it looked like Naruto wasn't home yet. That would give her time to unwind and then she could think about just saying that things were fine between them and moving on. Besides it had been a few days since the incident and she had cooled down since then. It was still embarrassing to just think about, but the rational part of her mind knew that sooner or later he would see her naked.

That meeting with Danzo had started her thinking on things she was expected to produce at least one child at some point which meant that she and Naruto needed to get closer. At least things had been going well and he was a nice guy, at least he had never forced the issue of sex. She knew that a lesser man if they had found her naked in that position might not have pulled away. She crossed her arms across her chest at that thought, being a ninja was a dangerous job but a female ninja held other things to worry about.

A captured Kunoichi didn't just have torture to worry about for starters. At least with Naruto she knew that he would never force her into anything.

She sat on her bed thinking about things, the wedding was coming up soon and although she was comfortable around him what did she feel for him? She started to list the things about him, both the good and the bad and in the end the good points seemed to have won out. Logically she knew that he was a good match, and most likely would be a good husband and father one day. He liked kids, provided she made sure he didn't teach them anything perverted, and he was loyal and very honourable.

But although her mind was made up what did her heart say?

It was then that she noticed a box on her dresser and she groaned. She really was worried what was inside of it.

'_Might as well get it over with,'_ Temari thought as she went up to open the box. It was a bit heavier than she thought for something that size. When she opened it up and was actually surprised by what she found. She pulled out a twin pair of fans. They were a good length, black with a yellow floral pattern on them. Temari was interested and opened one of the fans up, it was then she found out why they were so heavier than normal as the fan was all metal.

The edges looked razor sharp and the metal very durable. The metal glistened and she examined it closely, it was a very good quality. She noticed something else in the box a small note that only read the word 'sorry' on it. She couldn't help but smirk that was just like Naruto to write something so simple.

She also noticed that there was something odd about the metal, it wasn't a normal metal. Having a similar fan for years she knew metal that was made to conduct chakra by feel at this point. She took the two fans and quickly went down to the small training area in the backyard. Temari flicked her wrists and opened up the fans testing the weight, they were excellently balanced but it would take time to get used to them.

She went into a few fluid movements with her fans and body, there were a few things she could do with these that she couldn't pull off with her larger fan. Her mind was already going through all the different types of things she could train in with these fans. She was a long distance fighter but her biggest weakness had been someone getting in closer to her, now with these she had that covered. Temari never really got 'giddy' but she was as close as she could come with these, they were perfect for her.

Now it was time to test the chakra and with one fan she infused her wind chakra into it, she concentrated feeling how the weapon took and moulded it, it would take time to get used to that but it felt right. Then when it felt right she slashed out with her fan and released the chakra. A wave of condensed wind flew out to the target and left a scratch against the surface. Normally that kind of attack would cut it in half but with time and training she could definitely use these.

"Okay, apology accepted," Temari said placing the fans in her belt as she turned around to see Naruto there.

"Y-you knew I was here?" Naruto asked a little nervous.

"At least for a few minutes," she smirked as she walked over to him. "Were these your idea?"

"Yeah, I was thinking what you would like and when I saw them I figured you might," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Plus you told me that your fan wasn't good for close combat and these looked perfect for you."

Temari smiled honestly as she looked at him, thinking back on her earlier thoughts. Okay he wasn't drop dead handsome but he was cute and the whiskers looked nice on him.

"Naruto can we go inside to talk about something," she asked him. He blinked in sudden confusion but nodded. They ended up on the couch sitting next to each other and she noticed how he seemed a little nervous. In fact during the dates they had he had been nervous around her when they were close at times. She should have known, he had been alone most of his life so he wasn't used to close contact. Thinking about that made her feel sad about that, he didn't deserve that kind of loneliness.

"Naruto as you know there are a few expectations for our marriage."

"You mean that we're basically closing the deal on the new peace?" Naruto asked her.

"Well there is that," Temari said as a small blush started to form to where she was going. "But in these kinds of marriages to prove our 'commitment' a few things have to happen. One of them is that I have to have at least one child."

Naruto swallowed nervously at that, "I-I remember you saying something about kids a couple of times."

Temari nodded, "Yeah, that's because I knew we would have at least one, and remember no perverted jutsus."

She gave him a small glare for measure and he quickly nodded his head so fast, it looked like it would fall off. Satisfied she decided to go on with her explanation. She told him about her run in with Danzo, Naruto had no idea who that was as he had never seen anyone like that before. He was confused to hear that this guy had wanted to take him in and train him at an early age. At first he would have liked that idea but then Temari told him the other side of things, how the man reminded her of her father and the subtle threats he had given her.

She could see the anger there and she was a bit pleased that he would want to protect her.

"Bastard isn't getting any kids from us," Naruto muttered crossing his arms. He made a mental note to ask Tsunade about him the next time he saw her. "So...we have to have a kid?"

"Not yet," Temari told him. "I don't plan on getting pregnant at least until after I'm a chunin, and besides I think we're both a bit young. But there is a timetable for this, and eventually they'll push us into it."

Naruto looked down at that, he didn't like the idea of Temari being forced to be with him, and the fact that she would be forced to have a kid with him made him feel even worse. He always had hoped he would find love and a normal marriage and family.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to," Naruto said a bid sadly.

Temari looked at him and her expression softened as she gently took his hand. Naruto was surprised as he looked up at the other blonde. "I know, you're a nice guy and well...lately I've been thinking about us. I know that I could have done a lot worse than you, in fact you're a good catch."

"R-really?"

Temari nodded and Naruto blushed a bit at this.

He looked down a bit and maybe for the first time he had some hope for a real marriage. "Well I wasn't sure at first but, I'm kind of glad you're going to be my wife too."

Now it was Temari's turn to start blushing as well.

"Thanks," Temari told him. "Although since we're going to be married I've been thinking that we should try and get closer. I don't want us to be this awkward all the time and then there is another thing that we are required to do."

"Oh, what?" Naruto gave her that look when he closed his eyes making him look more fox like.

"Well, we will have to, you know...the wedding night?" She told him blushing a lot more now.

"What happens on a wedding night?" Naruto asked her and Temari nearly fell over from that.

"You mean you don't know?" Temari asked and he shook his head. Temari sighed at this, she should have known that without parents he would be missing a few things but this was not what she expected. "Naruto, on the wedding night the couple consummate the marriage."

"Consum-what?" Naruto asked.

"We...have sex," Temari said looking away to hide her huge blush, and Naruto had an equal one on his face at that.

Naruto was starting to sweat at the thought of that night, but then again his mind when back to her naked form. The thought of him on top of her equally naked in bed made him feel all funny inside. He also noticed he was starting to get an erection and quickly tried to think of something else. He didn't want her to see that and think him some kind of pervert.

"S-so that's why you want us to try and be closer?" Naruto asked nervously.

Temari cleared her throat and nodded. "Yes, I don't want us to be too embarrassed to do anything on that night."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me," Naruto was glad the wedding was still two months away. Things were moving fast enough as they were. The last thing he needed to do was screw up a night like that, it was supposed to be important but he had no idea what to do for that night. He started to wonder who he could ask for advice, he was too embarrassed to go to someone like Tsunade, plus she might punch him for being a pervert. There was no way he could ask one of the other girls for the same reason.

Maybe he could ask Iruka, he might know plus he wasn't a pervert like Jiraiya.

"I'm not saying we should just jump into things but I think we should at least start off with something simple," she felt a little nervous with what she had thought of to try.

"Simple?"

"Like this," Temari said as she moved slowly towards him. She didn't want to scare him off knowing how he was, so she planned to do this slowly. She felt herself being nervous and her heart was speeding up as her face slowly moved closer to Naruto's. She kept telling herself that this was nothing special but for some reason she was still feeling nervous, after all she had never done this before.

Naruto felt himself blush as her face slowly got closer, he swallowed nervously as he looked to her lips. He licked his own as he slowly moved a bit forward.

Both of them had never kissed before at least not on the lips (Naruto didn't count Sasuke), but then their lips met. Naruto was surprised how soft her lips were and he closed his eyes. Temari did the same as they gently felt out the kiss, she wasn't sure what to do but then instinct started to kick in and both started to kiss. Temari meant it just a slight one but strangely found herself drawn into it the kiss. She could taste ramen and something else in Naruto's kiss and she should have known he would taste like it.

Naruto found that her lips tasted of strawberries and he didn't know that kissing a girl felt his good. Both of them lost track of time but a few seconds later they both pulled back blushing.

"T-that was good," Naruto stammered out. Temari nodded her head feeling her heart racing at the moment. Both of them had started on this path to marriage as stranger but over the short time together they had become friends and now had started to move into something more. Neither of them were sure of where things would lead but for the first time, both of them were thinking that this marriage could be something that neither of them would regret.

**Next up Chapter 15: Wedding Plans**


	15. Wedding Plans

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 15: Wedding Plans**

**-Sound Base-**

Orochimaru was resting he had been forced to change into a new body since Sasuke wasn't able to leave the village until that wedding for his teammate was done with. The new body would have to do; although it was strong it wasn't as strong as he had hoped. He was also starting on the enhancements to this new body as well, altering it to fit his needs. The bandages were to cover the surgeries that the body had been put through, they were standard by now and every time he thought of new ways to improve the procedures. But there was another problem, he would need Sasuke at some point and from the reports of the Sound Four he seemed to be training with the curse mark.

He had plenty of time to think now while his new body recovered it would be a few years before he needed to change hosts. Without the constant pain in his body he finally could start thinking more clearly. In a few years Sasuke would be older and stronger, he had only gotten after him because he had gotten too excited. After all with only two true sharingan users left in the world, and his failure with Itachi, there had only been one person left. After he tested the boy out and seen his potential he had marked him he literally just couldn't wait. That had been a mistake, but the sharingan had been so close after all these years.

But he needed to be patient and smart now, now he needed to be crafty and manipulative.

He thought about the boy, it was obvious that he wanted power to kill his older brother. That was something he could use but the boy would need to be pushed a bit more into his direction. There was also another problem and that was the Sound Four, they couldn't wait forever in Konoha. Orochimaru knew all the secret ways in and out of the village and knew all about how Konoha trained their ANBU units. But they couldn't hide forever, sooner or later they would be caught and he couldn't have them caught.

He would have to recall them for now, but he would have his people on the watch for Sasuke. Besides he had a few plans on how to make sure that Sasuke joined him, but he needed more information first. Maybe when the boy started to leave the village on missions again, he could get him then. But at any rate he would watch and wait.

**-Temari-**

It had been a few days since she had that talk with Naruto about their relationship and they were making progress on it. They could hold hands and kiss every now and then, they were slowly getting used to being physical with each other. It was a little odd with him being shorter than her and of course both weren't too sure what to even do in a relationship but they were slowly making progress. Plus despite everything she found herself actually enjoying it. He was a quick learner and he could give really good kisses apparently.

Sometimes she would catch herself just looking at him, watching him with his antics with Sasuke or someone. How hard he trained and the fierce determination he showed, he could be very passionate at those times. Although she did wish he would put a bit of that passion into their relationship. That was another thing; she had stopped thinking of this as 'the arrangement' into a 'relationship'.

Why not, after all they went on dates, lived and worked together. She saw him all the time and she liked being with him. She felt at ease with him around, and yet also she felt other things. Frustration when he was stubborn, she sighed when he was being stupid, smiled when he was acting all goofy (although she tried to hide it at times) and many other things. But she too it all, the bad with the good and it just felt right with her.

Although at the moment she wouldn't mind being with him at the moment, but she couldn't. This was mainly due to the fact that Sakura had asked her to hang out with her friends today. Temari knew she could have just said no, but in all honestly she was feeling a little isolated. Sure she felt the same back home, but Konoha was still not totally her home yet. Plus Sakura wasn't all bad, she had potential she just needed to get her fixation off the Uchiha and train seriously and the girl could go far.

The current extra training she did with the pink haired girl was evidence of that, plus the girl was nice enough to her and it was hard to get people being nice to her. She didn't have many female friends if any back home because of her standing and Gaara. So she agreed to it, plus Naruto had been telling her she needed to make friends with all of his friends anyway so this would get him off her back about it. He could be very annoying at times when he really wanted something to happen.

So that was how she ended up sitting at a table with nothing but the other girls that Naruto knew. Temari already knew Sakura, and she knew Tenten although not in the really friendly manner. After all getting your ass handed to you in the chunin exams wasn't the best way to leave an impression. But the girl seemed to be over it so that was good. There was also the Ino girl that Sakura talked about, Temari wasn't sure but the other blonde girl seemed just as bad as Sakura when it came to a certain Uchiha. Then finally there was the quiet mouse of a girl, Hinata Hyuga.

She remembered her as well in the exams, fighting that older boy that she later learned was her own cousin. It was odd, back then he had nearly killed the girl but now it would seem that was just water under the bridge. From what Naruto had said once, after he beat Neji he must have pounded some sense into the boy. He acted a lot nicer than he had before, although Temari had met him only a few times, if that was nicer she wondered how bad had he been before? Apparently Naruto had another gift, to literally pound the sense into people. It worked with Neji and her brother at least.

But at any rate she was starting to feel a bit more comfortable with the girls as they talked. They were at a nice little tea shop drinking at a table outside in the nice sunny weather.

"I can't believe that Naruto of all people is getting married," Ino sighed as they were in the middle of drinking their teas. "I mean I never thought he would be the first to get married."

"Oh?" Temari said not sure how to take that remark.

Ino realised the tone of voice the older girl was using, "I didn't mean anything by it, it's just that he was never that popular with girls, plus his crush with Sakura as well." That earned her a slight kick under the table from said pink haired ninja.

"What? You know it's true," Ino said to Sakura. "Well I'm not going to be left out, as soon as Sasuke-kun is all mine then I'll marry him as soon as I can."

"Fat chance of that happening," Sakura glared at her friend/rival who mirrored her back.

Temari rolled her eyes and looked as the other two girls, "Honestly what the hell does everyone see in that Uchiha boy anyway?"

"No idea," Tenten said with a shrug. She never really thought much of the Sasuke, yes he was a strong genin but he just wasn't her type. It was like he looked down on everyone just because of what clan he came from. Plus the boy always seemed have too much ego. Then again she had only met him a few times, sure he was a pretty face but she just didn't like his personality.

Hinata just shrugged herself, she always felt intimidated by the last Uchiha clan member to be honest.

"Well he's handsome," Ino said counting off with her fingers. "He's from an established clan, he's got such a dark past with what happened, he's rich, powerful, he's cool, he's the strongest genin in the village too."

"I can debate that," Temari told her.

"What, you think you're better?" Ino challenged.

"Not sure, but I know there is someone stronger and that's Naruto," Temari said plainly.

The entire table looked at her shocked with surprise at this. Then Ino burst out laughing, Naruto had been the deadlast at the academy, the thought of him being stronger then Sasuke who was a prodigy and top genin of their class was just too funny.

Temari however didn't like the way the girl laughed at Naruto like that.

"Naruto!?" Ino finally managed to get out. "okay I'll admit that he's gotten stronger, after all I saw that mach with Neji and he really pulled out an upset win with that one. But come on, there's no way he's stronger then Sasuke-kun."

"Please," Temari said. "I watched that fight he had with my brother after all hell broke loose. Everyone knows that it was Naruto that beat him, hell it's public record I bet by now as it's well known in my village. I saw your precious Uchiha fight my little brother and couldn't even scratch him, but Naruto, well he never gave up."

Temari relaxed a bit as she started to think back to that day. "I've been in many battles and I've seen the kinds of terrible things my little brother can do. But that is a day I'll never forget, the things I saw in that fight I know I'll never see again. The kind of fight they had was something that you only hear in stories or legends. I remember my heart racing just watching them slug it out and I'll admit. Back then I never thought much of him, but when I saw him fighting with everything he had I saw that there was a lot more than meets the eye with him."

"Trust me, if you saw what I saw you wouldn't say those things about Naruto." Temari said giving the girl a steeled look.

Ino blinked a few times, not sure what to think about that. Temari looked very serious but in her mind she just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Naruto of all people was supposed to be stronger than Sasuke.

"N-Naruto-kun has always been brave and strong," Hinata finally spoke up. She was glad that someone else saw what she saw in Naruto. Although she was still envious of Temari to be marrying Naruto. It still hurt how she now never had a chance with the boy that had captured her heart, but it was more manageable now.

"I haven't known him that long but even I thought he didn't stand a chance against Neji," Tenten said adding in her two cents. "I mean I've seen Neji in action and he had to go all out on Naruto, even resorting to rotation which he was saving up for later. Then when I thought he had lost, he comes out of nowhere and Neji is down for the count."

"Yeah," Temari chuckled at that, "Never saw that coming but it seems that's his specialty. You can never know what he's going to do next." She fingered one of her new smaller fans that were tucked at her waist. She smiled a bit as her finger glided over the gift.

"I don't know who is actually stronger," Sakura said softly. "I wasn't awake during that fight…but Naruto has gotten a lot stronger, even more than I thought."

It was something that Sakura had come to admit in recent weeks Naruto had far surpassed her and was showing no signs of slowing down either. She felt like she was being left behind and had to work so hard to just keep them in sight.

"Sakura?" Ino asked shocked that her friend would admit to something like that. "What makes you say something like that? You always hated him and said he was weak."

Sakura actually flinched at that, she had started to feel bad about the way she had treated Naruto in the past. He was a good friend and she felt horrible about all the times she had been mean to him.

"I was wrong," She said looking down at her tea cup. "And I never really hated him, he was just annoying at the time and I never let myself get the chance to get to know him. But after the chunin exams…I guess I started to grow up and I don't think of him like that anymore. He's a really good friend who will always be there for you no matter what, and he is strong."

Temari smiled at that, she wasn't sure how to feel about the girl hearing how she used to be. But people can change for the better her brother was proof of that.

'_It seems that Naruto changes everyone for the better.'_ Temari thought to herself. _'He changed Neji apparently, he changed Gaara, and he changed Sakura. Maybe he's even doing the same to me…'_

"Well how much stronger could he be?" Tenten asked getting a bit more curious now.

"Well let's see," Temari leaned back thinking about it. "He's already learned a powerful jutsu from Jiraya the Toad Sage. The Rasengan which was created by your Fourth Hokage himself and only like three people even know it in the world. He's also working on his wind nature manipulation and he's starting to make some progress."

This progress of course was Naruto using clones to try and cut rocks up with his chakra. She had caught him using ten clones with the rocks and when she asked what he was doing, she was surprised by the answer. She had never heard of anyone training with shadow clones before, although she didn't know the jutsu herself there had to be a reason she had never heard of people training this way before.

Ino, Tenten and Hinata sat there surprise written on their faces. They hadn't known anything like that but Hinata soon smiled knowing that Naruto had hidden strength and now it was showing through. She only hoped to one day match that.

"I've seen some of that too," Sakura said to the others just in case. "Although I wish he had a difference summons."

"He can summon too?" Tenten hadn't known that.

"Frogs," Sakura groaned remembering how Naruto had called up a strange little red one in a blue vest.

"Actually they're toads," Temari corrected. She had said the same thing and apparently the toad had took offence to it. "At any rate he's a lot stronger than you think."

"Well sounds like it," Tenten had to admit that was an impressive list and a bit diverse. She was a weapons specialist but she was starting to think maybe a little practice in another area wouldn't hurt as a backup. "At any rate what's he like, I mean how are things going between you two?"

Temari blushed a bit and tried to keep a smile off her face but a bit showed through. "He's actually a really sweet guy. I could have done a hell of a lot worse than him. Sure he needs a little work but no man is perfect."

"Hopefully you can get him out of that orange suit," Ino sighed. "God how has he not been killed in that ugly thing I have no idea."

Temari rolled her eyes, "Trust me I've been trying but he can be very stubborn at times. Hopefully I can slowly get him off so much orange but I get the feeling he'll fight me on this one."

"Never did understand his fixation on that color," Sakura sighed. "Hopefully you can, or at least get him something better, maybe mix it in with a darker color at least."

"Well how about the good stuff?" Ino asked. "Come on girl, we need details have you two kissed yet and is he a good kisser or a bad one?"

Temari flushed at that seeing all pairs of eyes now glued to her. She could tell them it was none of their business but for some reason she felt that maybe they should know exactly what Naruto was like. After all they should know just what they missed out on. "Alright fine, he's a really good kisser and he's only getting better. Plus he gives the best foot and shoulder rubs."

"H-he rubs you're shoulders and feet?" Hinata blushed at the thought of such intimate contact with Naruto. She would have fainted if he tried to do something like that.

"At the same time too," Temari grinned at the memory. In fact she kind of looked forward to those moments, she could just really relax at those times with Naruto. "I'll admit he really uses shadow clones in inventive ways."

The other girls were surprised by this, and maybe a slight bit jealous of the happy look on Temari's face. After all she was the only one of them that actually had someone like that in her life.

"So then...how is the wedding plans going?" Ino asked trying to move the subject along, she hated long silences and needed something to break the moment.

"It's going although a few details need working out," Temari said. "Need to get a few things, like flowers for the damn thing."

"Well my family owns a flower store we could help with that," Ino said glad to help out. After all this wedding had been the talk of the town for awhile now.

"Well that's one thing out of the way," Temari mentally ticked that one off. Then she remembered something else she needed. "Sakura, I need a maid of honor would you like it?"

"M-me!?"

"Well I don't have many female friends," she told her but in truth she really didn't have any female friends. Sakura was the closest she had to a good enough friend for this. Plus she wasn't sure who else to ask for this.

"I would love to!" Sakura's eyes nearly had stars in them at this. She would love to be a part of this, already her mind was thinking of what dress to get and how to get her hair for the day.

"Aw no fair!" Ino said.

"Sorry Ino-pig but she picked me," Sakura grinned at her friend.

"So you need any other things to help out?" Tenten asked the older girl. "I mean we might as well help you out with planning this thing if you need it. We can't do everything but we can at least do this since Naruto is our friend."

Temari smiled happy to have the help, although the place was already picked out to be on top of the Hokage Tower she and all of that was being planned out. She still needed to think on a few things, like guests. So far the only people she was inviting was her family and her old sensei. Of course the Suna council would be there as would all the important people in Konoha. But so far the ceremony wouldn't be totally traditional.

Which was a good point, and there would be a few changes. Such as her making an oath of 'always obeying the husband' like in some ceremonies, she liked Naruto but in no way could she give up her pride for something like that. It would be a true partnership for their marriage and not one of submissive servitude.

She snapped back as someone asked her a question on if she knew a place to get a good kimono.

**-Underground Area, Konoha-**

Anko had been told that the new sealing preparations were complete and she couldn't wait. Although she was moving in the more secure areas, the older underground areas where she has stayed when they had found her and they had interrogated her. She was glad they didn't go through the physical torture part for missing nins but still they had used all the tricks to break her down. She did break of course but she couldn't tell them what she didn't know. After a couple of weeks she was reinstated but given two weeks recovery leave.

That had been a rough time for her, but she didn't blame them. Hell, a part of her had hoped they could have unlocked her mind with what she went through. All in all she had gotten stronger from it and now she was heading back into this place. The cold stone echoed with her footsteps and she found the room that Kakashi had told her to find. She opened up and looked inside. The place was dark with candles as the only light source but she was interested in the designs that were all over the place. There was a complex one on the floor and many others that led from it going all over the place.

"Damn," Anko muttered at the level of detail that had to go into this. "This had to take forever."

"Actually more like five hours," Kakashi said stepping out from behind a pillar with some ink. He looked a little tired to her and if he had been at this for five hours it was no wonder.

"So you think this will work?" Anko asked looking around.

"Well it's a lot more advanced and complicated than the one I used on Sasuke that's for sure," Kakashi said looking around himself. "But we won't know until we try."

Anko sighed, "Alright let's get this over with."

She removed her coat and laid it out off to the side she was about to start with her mesh shirt but looked at Kakashi. "Aren't you forgetting something? If I have to do this topless then so are you."

Kakashi rolled his visible eye and took off his jacket and then his long sleeve shirt. He placed them off to the side only to see Anko watching her with a smirk on her face. "Happy?"

"Not yet, you forgot the mask. I'm not letting you see me nearly naked unless I get to see that face of yours."

Kakashi paused for a moment and pulled off his mask, honestly what was it with people trying to see his face?

Anko had been watching Kakashi take his shirt off and she had to admit he had a really nice body under all that clothing. You couldn't tell because it wasn't skin tight but his body was slim but athletic, kind of like a swimmers body. All lean and powerful like a cat. She noticed the ANBU tattoo on his shoulder, and the little scars from the trade as well. Then he removed his mask and her brain shut down for a moment. She was amazed by what she saw he was without a doubt one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.

His face was perfect, strong jaw line, the perfect mouth and features. Even the scar on her face that she could see seemed to fit with his face. She couldn't understand why he chose to hide a face like that from the world, then again if all the women in the village could see that face he wouldn't get a moments peace. She wasn't even aware of her cheeks burning slightly from her staring at him.

"Anko?" Kakashi asked snapping her out of it.

She felt embarrassed that he had caught her gawking like some stupid teenager. She turned around to hide her face and to compose herself. She berated herself for acting like that and for being caught, she was a professional and here she was acting like this.

Kakashi watched her reaction with interests he never did see why women acted like that when they saw his face. One of the reasons he kept his mask up all the time. He watched her remove her mesh shirt leaving her in a bra, he couldn't help but look at her back. He noticed a couple of little scars but otherwise her skin was flawless, then she slowly took off her bra and Kakashi suddenly felt his heart rate increase a bit. He suddenly started to become painfully aware of just how long it had been since he had been with a woman.

He had a few flings but nothing major, he didn't try to form bonds for the longest time. After his teammates and best friends died and then his sensei he had lost everyone and retreated into himself. It was a long time before he had opened up again but still he kept any sexual relationships to a minimum. Usually when he was out of the village after a mission was completed so there would be no attachments, but that had been a very long time ago. Being with his genin team didn't really leave lots of free time like it used to.

Then Anko turned around and he couldn't help but look. Her stomach was flat and slim her breasts were very nice as well. Not overly large like Tsunade but they were a handful, they looked a bit firm and supple but he couldn't tell unless he could feel them. He quickly recovered and led Anko to the center of the circle where he started to apply the last of the special ink.

Anko shivered a bit, it was cold down here and the ink was cold as well. She tried to focus on something else but it was boring and she hated being bored.

"So...seen any interesting movies lately?" It sounded even more lame coming out of her mouth than in her head.

Kakashi chuckled knowing what she was doing, he didn't mind the conversation. "Not lately, been very busy with my new team plus the Icha Icha movie is still being made, they haven't picked a main star yet either."

"You really do like those books huh?"

"Of course, they're full of action, drama, suspense-"

"Porn." She supplied.

"Well there are certain adult scenes, yes."

"Any three ways?"

Kakashi blinked, "A couple, why?"

"Then it's porn and not 'adult scenes' as you put it. Besides how many times does that actually happen in real life?" she asked him smirking.

"I'll admit that it's unlikely but then again it is fiction," Kakashi told her as he started on the symbols going down her spine. "You know we've worked together a few times but we haven't really ever talked before this have we?"

Anko thought about it. Before he came to her about the new seal idea of his they hardly ever interacted. "No not really, why is that?"

Kakashi shrugged even though she couldn't see it. "Not sure myself, I think this is the most we've spoken outside of a mission. You know I don't even know what you like other than dango and scaring little genins."

She looked over her shoulder and grinned at him, "Was a certain little blonde genin talking about me?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Oh yes, he ranted about a 'crazy Proctor lady' once. You certainly left an impression on him."

Anko laughed at that, "Well then maybe I should crash his wedding and surprise him. Although I doubt that would go over well with everyone there."

"I could invite you if you want."

"Really?" She was surprised at that.

"Of course, I am his sensei and I could ask to bring a few friends," he told her smiling and she could see how he smiled without the mask for once. He did close his eye but the smile he had was a very nice one. She quickly turned her face forward before she blushed again.

"So...we're friends now?" She asked.

Kakashi paused, "We are if you'd like, besides I don't have any female friends that would let me draw on them naked."

Anko wanted to smack his arm for that one but she knew she couldn't move. "Oh I'll get you for that one Hatake," but her voice held no malice in it. "And for the record I don't just let any friend do this."

"Then I'm honoured."

"You better be," Anko smiled.

He chuckled as he continued on drawing on her. They continued to talk and they were surprised how easy it was to talk to one another. Kakashi was surprised when he found out that her hobby was tea ceremonies. He never thought of her to be into something like that but she apparently knew a lot about it. She learned that he had a few hobbies other than his books, and laughed when she heard that one of them was getting under Gai's skin. They both tried to continue on when Kakashi moved to her front, but it wasn't that easy.

Anko had to admit that it was all kind of erotic and was glad that the cold was why her nipples were hard. The last thing she needed was for Kakashi to think she was turned on by all of this. Although she couldn't help but stare at his body and face now and then. He was a very good specimen of the male species and it had been a long time since she got herself laid. You can only go so long without sex and only a certain amount of things you could do to take your mind off it.

It certainly didn't help to have a hot man doing what he was doing on her skin she just tried to focus her mind off things. Little did she know that Kakashi was having the same problem as her. Drawing the symbols on her front was very distracting, especially when he got to her breasts. He just hoped that he could get through this. He already was trying to think of other things so he wouldn't get an erection. Gai in a swimsuit usually worked to ruin the mood but it was torture at any rate.

By the time he was done both of them were glad for it.

"Okay here comes the hard part." Kakashi said getting behind her.

"It's going to hurt isn't it," Anko said as more of a statement than a question as she steeled herself.

"Well Sasuke did pass out," he warned her.

"Please like I'm some rookie genin," Anko felt a bit insulted by the comparison.

"True but this is a more complex one so I have no idea what the effect will be on both of us," he told her going through the hand seals. There was no more talking as Anko got ready for it, then she felt his hand on her curse mark and suddenly it was like every nerve in her body was on fire. She gritted her teeth not wanting to cry out from the pain but it was almost as bad as when she first got the mark. She didn't feel her nails digging into the palms of her hands or notice anything else. All there was, was the burning pain, she heard a scream not knowing it was her own voice and then the world went black.

**-Naruto-**

It was mid afternoon and Naruto was making his way to the academy again to see Iruka. He had been thinking about a few things lately and he was hoping he could catch Iruka before he left for the day. He wasn't sure how long the talk would be so he figured after classes would work. Besides he knew that Iruka stayed behind a bit to do some work after classes so it was a good chance he was there. By the time he got inside the school it was all quiet, everyone seemed to be gone for the day.

He looked inside his old classroom and smiled seeing Iruka there at his desk grading some papers by the looks of it.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said walking into the room.

"Naruto, how are things?" Iruka asked glad to see his favourite student. He could use the break anyway plus he didn't get much time to see Naruto anymore.

"Things are going great," Naruto said sitting across from him in an empty chair. "But there are a few things that I've been wanting to ask you."

"Oh, you know you can come to me about anything," Iruka said to the boy.

Naruto smiled a bit as he heard that, it was one of the few constancies in life that he could always turn to Iruka. "Well I was told I need a best man and I was hoping you would do it for me." He asked him a little embarrassed to bring this up.

Iruka blinked and then smiled at the boy, "Naruto, it would be my honor. I'm surprised you didn't ask anyone else though."

"Sasuke said no," Naruto muttered. He had asked him earlier in the week but the boy was being a pain lately. "Plus if you couldn't do it I was going to ask Fuzzy Brows next."

"Bushy Brows?" Iruka asked confused.

"Lee." Naruto clarified, next to Sasuke it was Lee he felt he could relate to the most. Sure the guy was a little weird but he liked him. He worked hard in life and Naruto could respect that.

"Well then I'm glad you asked me." Iruka told him. "So what's the second part?"

"Can you...can you help me with understanding something, I mean I could use some advice," Naruto said blushing at this point. After he learned what 'consummate' meant he knew he would need to learn a bit more about sex. After all he knew the basics but honestly what were you supposed to do with a girl beyond that? Was there anything important he should do or not do, there were so many things he didn't know about it.

"Well what's the subject?" Iruka knew that Naruto had problems with paying attention in class. It had been a struggle to keep him seated and paying attention all those years. But the boy had turned out really well since he left, but if there was anything he could do to help then he would. After all, that's why he became a teacher to begin with.

"W-what can you tell me about...sex?" Naruto finally asked.

Iruka paled as that was a question he never thought he would have to get into. Of all the things he had to ask why did he have to ask him that? Iruka felt that this was going to be a very long and awkward talk.

**Next up chapter 16: Intimacies**


	16. Intimancies

**AN: Just to let you know I had to edit out the lemon scene as was cracking down on this**

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 16: Intimacies**

Iruka had been trying to tell Naruto about sex but it was just hard, this was why he had someone else teach the kids about sex he just couldn't do it. It was embarrassing for him to try and explain things to Naruto, who had no real idea to begin with. He had tried to explain the differences in men and woman although Naruto already knew the basics of that thankfully. He didn't want to know how Naruto knew, he had seen that Sexy Jutsu enough to know that Naruto knew enough on the outside of a woman.

"Now Naruto," Iruka asked as he tried to explain a bit more. "During sex it's important to get the woman, uh, warmed up."

"You mean they're cold?" Naruto asked which didn't make sense as when he touched Temari she was very warm. But then maybe that was because she had just had a hot shower.

"No not like that," the teacher sighed. "I mean...they need to be ready first before you put, you're-you're you know, into her..."

"I need to get her ready?" Naruto just wasn't sure what Iruka was getting at.

"You n-need to touch her, her breasts and stuff. Women had certain places where they feel pleasure and if you do it enough they get...wet..."

"Wet?" Naruto blinked. "You mean like they sweat?"

"No, well yes that can happen to when both of you get worked up. I mean they get wet down there," He pointed downwards. When he saw Naruto blinked in confusion Iruka just sighed. Why did Naruto have to come to him about this? He was just too nervous for this, but he would try his best.

An hour later Naruto came walking out of the academy even more confused going in. Iruka always seemed to know a lot about everything, but apparently with women he didn't know as much as Naruto had hoped. So now he was totally lost on the subject. He was trying to think of who else to go to but honestly the only real option seemed to be Tsunade but that just seemed weird. She was like a grandmother/sister to him or at least the closet he had to it.

But it would seem that fate (not that be believed in it) had something else in store for him. As luck would have it Jiraiya had been in the area. He had just finished up some research at the hot springs and was already making notes on the next instalment of his book when he saw his favourite genin in the world.

'_Well wonder where Naruto is going,'_ Jiraiya thought to himself and then noticed something else. _'Huh, kid looks a little down about something. Wonder if he pissed off his girl again, well might as well see what is going on.'_

Jiraiya managed to catch up with the boy easily enough. "Hey Naruto."

"Oh hey Ero-sennin." Naruto said to the older man.

"I wish you'd stop it with that already," the older man grumbled. "Anyways what's going on, you look a little down. Everything going well with Temari?"

"Yeah," the boy told him. "I just went to ask Iruka-sensei about something but he didn't seem to know much about it."

"Oh, well then maybe I can help. I know he's a good teacher but honestly I've been around a lot longer and picked up on a lot of things."

"Oh no way!" Naruto said suddenly. "I don't need you're perverted advice!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jiraiya was a bit lost on that. Why would the kid think he would give perverted advice? "What kind of advice were you looking for anyway?"

"I told you already I don't want any perverted advice," Naruto crossed his arms.

The old man thought about it for a moment and then it clicked as he got on a wicked grin. "Oh is this advice on women?"

Naruto blushed as he didn't answer.

"Kid do you have any idea how that makes no sense to come to me for advice on women?" Jiraiya told him. "Besides I know more about women than most any man, there are hundreds of things I could tell you that you need to know. Besides in this case the perverted answers are the best ones!"

Naruto thought about it for a moment, it was really more on instinct that he avoided Jiraiya's advice on this subject. "If I give this a shot will you keep it from being too perverted?"

"Sure kid, I'll do my best, so what's the first thing you want to know?" The Toad Sage asked his apprentice.

"Well...Iruka said something about getting a woman ready and that they get wet. What does that mean?" Naruto asked wondering if the old man would really answer him or not.

"Oh that's easy," the old man grinned. "See before you put your penis into her you need to make sure she's lubricated, or else it will hurt her. Now they get 'wet' as it's called, by making them feel pleasure. You can do this through kissing, stroking, caressing and a few other things we'll get into later. The main point is to try and find her erogenous zones."

"Her...what?" Naruto asked confused about the word.

"Sensitive areas," He explained. "Places like breasts, nipples, her vagina are the good areas. Some women like to be touched or kissed on the neck too and don't forget her clit."

"What's a clit?" Naruto never heard of some of this before. Apparently the man really did know more about a woman then Iruka.

Jiraiya stared at the boy almost in shock, the boy had never heard of the clit? He sighed as he suddenly realized that Naruto had a huge hole in his knowledge about women. Well as his apprentice it was up to him, to train Naruto in the ways of pleasuring a woman. After all, he had many years of practice and experience to give the boy and he would need it for his wedding night. He held back a perverted giggle, if all went well that girl wouldn't know what hit her that night. He wondered if he could listen in or find a nice open window. After all they were the stars of his new book.

"Well looks like we'll have a lot to talk about Naruto, now here's the thing you should know first..."

**-Elsewhere-**

When Anko woke up she was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. She blinked a few times and although her body ached it wasn't too bad. She looked around to see that she was no longer in the underground facility but in what looked like an apartment bedroom. It was pretty neat and orderly and didn't seem to have much in the way of personal items. It kind of remaindered her, of her own room actually. But the place was different so it wasn't her place. She looked to see that she was dressed again and laying in a bed. So she pulled back the covers and swung her feet to the side, her boats and shin guards were gone.

Anko looked around and saw them and her coat neatly placed on a chair. She was starting to wonder where she was when she noticed a couple of pictures. She moved to the book case and looked at them, there was one with a boy in goggles, a girl with marks on her cheeks, apparently the Forth Hokage (which was a surprise as there weren't many pictures of him) and a masked kid with familiar silver hair. The next picture was of Team 7 before Temari joined up and she was now certain she was in Kakashi's place.

She heard a sound from the other room and went to take a look, it was a modest apartment much like her own and there in the kitchen/dinning room area was Kakashi making tea. He was without his jacket but the mask was back on. She was surprised how disappointed that made her but quickly coughed to get his attention.

"Oh good you're awake," Kakashi smiled at her.

"Yep, so why am I here anyway?" Anko asked him more out of curiosity.

"You passed out," Kakashi said simply and Anko winced at that. She really wished she hadn't passed out, it just made her look weak and she hated to look weak. "I got Tsunade to check on you after the sealing and she said that you just needed rest. So I put you into bed since I doubt the cold stone floor would have been good."

Anko thought about that for a moment and she realised something. "She didn't ask why I was nearly naked and passed out?" Anko asked.

"Oh that," Kakashi said and she actually thought he was blushing, she thought it was kind of cute. And how knew that the man that read Jiraiya's books in public could get embarrassed. "Well I had to dress you after I recovered I didn't want you to look vulnerable."

Anko thought about it for a moment and decided to forgive anything he had to have touched on her body to get her dressed. He took the time to make sure she was presentable, even unconscious to the Hokage of all people so she was grateful for that. "Wait, what do you mean recovered?"

"Apparently it took a bit out of me as well," Kakashi said rubbing the back of his head. "I had to put in a large amount of chakra for that thing. I couldn't really move for the first minute after it."

"Oh...well thanks," Anko said to him. She hadn't thought about if it would affect him as well but apparently the new sealing took a lot of chakra from him.

"So why did you take me to your place?" Anko asked him.

He scratched the back of his head, "Well I didn't think you needed to go to the hospital and also to avoid filling out the paperwork for that. Also, I didn't know where you lived and it was hard enough trying to sneak you here without anyone seeing me haul an unconscious woman into my place. That kind of image could give me a very bad reputation."

Anko couldn't help but laugh at that, if anyone saw him they would think he was drugging women and taking them to his home for perverted reasons.

Kakashi offered to make some tea which she could use at the moment. After sitting down as she waited for the tea to get ready, she took the time to really look around the place. It didn't have any pictures but she did notice a few landscape paintings, a TV, the usual furniture and she saw a few personal items. It was all pretty neat and organized as well. When the tea came she was glad for it, she was thirsty and she loved tea.

This however wasn't good tea as she made a face drinking it, "What is this supposed to be?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise, "The package said green tea."

Anko blinked, "You're not using actual leaves but that store bought crap aren't you?" She sighed shaking her head. "Honestly I should get you to drink a few of the stuff I have, nothing beats actual tea leaves."

After she forced the stuff down and making a mental note to get Kakashi turned to real tea they got to working on her seal. The main test was to see how the seal held up with emotional strain. Anko was in the middle of his apartment as he was ready to help in any way if he was needed. Anko closed her eyes and brought up the memories of what usually triggered the mark. She thought of Orochimaru and all the things he had done to her, her missing memories, the pain and suffering she had endured because of him.

She brought out all her hatred for him and drawing on anything she could. Then she felt it a slight pain in her shoulder as she grunted in surprise and touched the mark.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked moving towards her afraid it hadn't worked.

Anko blinked a bit as she thought about it, it had hurt but instead of the blinking pain that caused her body to freeze up it was more like a pulled muscle. It was just this dull aching now as she slowly looked at her mark. She could see the ring of tiny seals around the mark but it was holding. She tried it again and she felt the dull aching pain but it was nowhere near the pain she usually felt.

It had worked, the pain was manageable now. If it ever flared up again she could easily deal with it.

Anko felt happier than she could ever remember, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her after all these years. She just felt like celebrating. She wanted to go out and run happily all over the place shouting her joy to the world. She did the next best thing as she jumped onto Kakashi looping her arms around his neck. He was surprised as he managed to grab her thighs to prevent her from falling.

"Oh Kami you have no idea how happy this makes me, thank you!" Anko smiled at him.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile back, she really did look happy and despite everything he was glad how things went.

Anko knew she owed Kakashi for this, from now on she didn't have to worry when or if her mark would flare up. Every time she went on a mission she could do it without the worry of it getting in the way. She might even start to train a little harder now, maybe without it interfering at times she could finally get to full Jonin rank even. Maybe she could even get into ANBU. After all that damn mark had a way of slowing down her training, she always had to be careful because if she pushed too hard, it flared whenever she was weak and then tried to push for more.

It was hard to push yourself to your limits when that happened.

Now maybe she could finally see what she was truly capable of, she also suddenly realised the position she was in. She knew that this wasn't exactly the most modest position but then modesty wasn't an issue with her. She could feel his nice hard peeks rubbing up against her chest and his strong hands on her body. She couldn't help but remember that face he hid and the body under all that clothing. Maybe she was just running on endorphins or the fact that she hadn't had sex in months but at the moment she decided to throw all caution to the wind. She wanted to celebrate and so she made a choice.

Before Kakashi knew it she pulled down his mask and before he could ask her what she was doing her mouth was on his. At first he wasn't sure what was going on but he was starting to become painfully aware of how good her body was pressed up against him like this. He could smell her scent, with his enhance sense of smell and she smelled so alluring at the moment. His hands gripped her thighs a little as his body decided to move on its own and he kissed her back.

He hadn't had a woman in a long time and he never thought of it before today, but she was a very sexy woman. The kiss was passionate and he felt her tongue tracing his lips asking for entry. He opened his mouth as her tongue went in as his own met hers. He felt her moan into his mouth as he legs locked around his waist. Before he knew it he had her pressed up against a wall her hands roaming his body, digging into his hair as he tasted her. It was like liquid fire kissing her, his blood was hot and he felt alive in a way he hadn't felt since his first time.

"What-what are we doing?" He managed to get out while kissing her.

"I thought, oh that feels good there, anyone who reads those books would know," Anko then moaned as he kissed her neck in a certain spot.

"You know what I mean," He told her. A part of him wanted to stop but honestly it just felt too good. Images of her naked torso ran in his mind and he found that he wanted to rip that shirt off her. He wanted to touch them, kiss them and do all kinds of things to her and her body.

"I'm not sure, I just felt like doing it so I did it," Anko told him honestly. That's what she did, she did things when she felt like doing them not really bothering to think them through all the time. She liked to enjoy life and she was certainly enjoying herself now. She grinded her hips against his and she could feel something hardening in his pants that was pressing against her. She smirked as she felt that he was starting to enjoy it as well.

"Don't you think it's a little fast?" He groaned into her neck feeling her hips grind against his crotch.

"Don't care, I need this and I think you do too," She then kissed him deeply. She had never felt anything like this before, he was a really good kisser. Then she felt his hand on her ass as he gently massaged it making her groan. She needed him now and then. "Fuck just give me a second."

He let her down panting heavily as he watched her, her face was all flushed as she hiked up her skirt and pulled down the mesh shorts she wore. Many thought it was just a fully body suit but that made no sense, how was she to go to the bathroom in a full body suit? It made her laugh at times the things people thought about. She kicked them away as she jumped back up to him capturing him in a deep kiss again.

"Take me now," she breathed into his ear.

He took her against the wall as they rutted with each other in an animal lust. It had been a long time for either of them and their bodies yearned for the touch of another. It was like they were getting drunk off each other as the continued on willing the place with the sounds of sex until the end.

"Well that was a good first round," She told him panting for breath.

"First round?" Kakashi asked surprised.

"I haven't gotten any in a long time and I'm going to make this worth it. You go get more comfortable on the bed I'll be right back," She said sultry to him.

"Going where?" He asked.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "First I need to get my clothing off and to freshen up. Plus I need to prepare for the next round."

Kakashi stood there transfixed as she walked away and noticed the sway of her hips, and a very nice figure too. Without that coat on she really had a nice body. He wasn't sure what was going on but hell he needed this just as much as her. Then he went to the bedroom taking off his clothing.

Kakashi was laying on his bed wondering if he should stop things or not. After the blood was going back to his big brain he could start to think again. He was trying to weigh the pros and cons to going on with this, but the damn thing was that although it had been fast it had been pretty good.

"Oh Kakashi," a sultry voice said as a bare leg came into view from the bathroom door. It slowly went up and down on the side of the opening and Kakashi's thoughts were blanked out again. Anko slowly came out in her naked glory and Kakashi drank in the sight. He had seen her topless but seeing her entire body was even better. She had her hair down and it was the first time he had seen this it looked really nice on her. He watched as Anko crawled onto the bed from his feet and worked herself up.

**-Sometime later-**

Anko fell onto Kakashi's chest to catch her breath. Both of them needed a break and were covered in sweat, her body felt a bit sensitive and it felt nice to rub up against his muscled body at the moment. Kakashi wrapped his strong arms around her and Anko sighed. It felt nice to just be held, usually it was just sex and then she or the other guy was gone. She never really tried to cuddle before and was surprised that it felt nice.

After a few moments of enjoying the silence Kakashi decided to break it. "So...what was that all about do you think?"

"Not sure myself," Anko said trailing her fingers over his muscles. "I just felt like doing it."

"So...what does that make us?" He asked trying to think what this meant for them. Were they a couple now, or was this just a one time thing?

"I, I don't know honestly," Anko wasn't sure if she wanted something more. A relationship could just complicate things plus she had never had a stable one to begin with. She thought about this, she did like hanging out with Kakashi as he was easy going. Plus she had to admit the sex was very good and she wouldn't mind access to that but were they ready for a relationship?

Kakashi was thinking along the same lines, he wasn't sure of what he felt for her. Maybe he did like her but was it enough that was the question.

It was Anko that spoke up, "Maybe we're just over complicating things. Maybe we can still be friends but still get what we both obviously need now and then."

Kakashi blinked as what she said started to register in his mind. "You mean friends with benefits?"

"Why not?" She asked him totally serious. "Look we're human and we both need certain releases now and then. You're a good guy and I trust you with this. Besides I'm not sure I'm ready for a relationship to be honest, at least not yet."

Hmm, I have to say the same," Kakashi sighed as a hand caressed her back. Thinking on it, it did make sense and it would make things so much easier. They could still be friends and still have sex without complicating things. "I think we could try it out, I mean what's the harm?"

Anko looked up at him and smiled, "Can't see any harm, unless you're into that type of thing." She said in a husky voice. "So...you ready for round three?"

He answered by flipping her onto her back and attacking her neck with his mouth making her squeal in delight.

**-Uzumaki Home-**

Temari had one hell of a day so far after the girls got together she had to do more work on the wedding. Finding a good komodo for her wedding wasn't easy. She wanted something decent and yet something she loved. After all this was still her wedding day and she still wanted to look her best for it. It wasn't easy but she found one, it needed to be refitted for her so she would pick it up when it was ready.

But it had been a very long day and she was looking forward to a nice hot water soak. That small inside onsen was a god sent to her life. Maybe they could increase its size later on, in fact she was starting to think of many things they could do over the years to improve their home. It was then that she stopped as she suddenly realised that it was the first time she started to think of his place as home. She smirked as she shook her head, it had only been a matter of time but still it was a nice place to live.

She noticed Naruto was home with his shoes and coat hung up, she was glad he finally remembered to do that without her telling him nearly every day.

"Naruto?" She called out as she heard someone upstairs.

"Temari?" Naruto said coming down the stairs. "Hey, how was the day with the girls?"

Temari shrugged, "Wasn't bad, it is nice to finally get to have some female friends for once. But I need to relax, all this planning for the wedding is starting to stress me out a bit."

"Oh?" Naruto hadn't really thought about it all that much but then again he didn't have much to do. He felt a bit bad about that but he had no clue what to do with a wedding. Then he thought about some of the things Jiraiya told him, all of it wasn't perverted like he thought. He had some advice on a few things to do and not to do as well as the more, intimate stuff. He fought off the blush at how in-depth the old pervert was, he had no idea there was so much things to know about the female body.

At least now he knew what those pad things and white sticks he found in the bathroom were and why she seemed so embarrassed he found them. He pushed those thoughts aside as the thought of what they were used for made him feel a little ill.

"Um...you, you want some company?" He asked a little nervous.

Temari paused as she thought about it, she sure could use one of his shoulder rubs plus she was working on their physical intimacy. She told him to get ready as she went to her room to get her bathing suit for it.

Naruto waited a little nervous in the water, when he heard the sliding door open he looked and gulped. There was Temari in that two piece and throwing a towel down. He couldn't help but watch her walk as images of what she looked like naked came back into his mind. He pushed them away as she settled into the water. He saw her blush a bit as she slowly moved closer to him her back facing him. He started to rub her soft skin knowing what she liked and didn't like by now, he went in gentle and slow with his motions.

Temari had to bite back a moan as she felt his hands go to work. She closed her eyes as she lost herself in the hot water and the pleasure her body was getting. Eventually she moved to be sitting between his legs as her back was nearly against him. Naruto was starting to enjoy this and decided to try something new, he leaned down and started to kiss her neck.

Temari gasped when she felt his lips on her skin, she had to admit the boy was getting more bolder it would seem. She leaned back feeling his body pressed against hers as he kept on kissing her. She blushed at feeling so much of her skin against the skin of a boy, kind of thrilling in a way actually. She felt his hands trailing her arms and she was tempted to ask where he was learning this stuff.

Naruto was enjoying himself a lot, he was beginning to see what Jiraiya meant by how 'fun' it was with a woman. He was starting to wonder just how far he could push things his perverted teacher did say that sometimes you had to push the limits. So with one hand he placed it on her thigh, she tensed up but didn't say anything. She quickly relaxed and Naruto slowly started to caress her thigh.

Now Temari did moan, at first she was going to ask him what he was doing but she changed her mind. She wanted to explore a bit herself. She accidentally made her ass grind up against his crotch and heard him moan for once. She smirked as it was about time she managed to get him to moan out. There was no way that she would let him be the only one to get away with making her moan out. So she decided to return the favour as she turned around and straddled the boy.

He then blushed bright red at this and she had to admit he looked very cute like that. She gently ran a couple of fingers over the whisker marks on his cheeks. They stared at each other's eyes for a moment before she moved closer and kissed him deeply. It was a very heated kiss and she found that she liked the passion in it his tongue would trail over her lips asking permission to enter her mouth. So she opened her mouth a bit and his tongue went in, her own tongue went to meet his. It was then that she noticed that she was now grinding herself against something very hard.

Naruto groaned against as his hands ran over her smooth back, every time she moved her hips that way it sent pleasure coursing through him. He thought that Jiraiya had mentioned something like this, when a girl would grind her sex against yours. He forgot the name for it as it was kind of hard to think. He liked how her hands were caressing his body too, then she started to kiss his neck and then she did something surprising. She nibbled on his ear lobe and it sent a shiver through him.

The two teens were getting hotter as they continued on, but Temari suddenly pulled away gasping for breath.

"Oh Kami," She breathed out. "Damn...Naruto I think we need to stop. I don't know how much more I can take and I don't think I'm ready to move on, at least not yet."

She hoped that he would understand but damn she was tempted to go on. She never felt so worked up like this before it was amazing how one day Naruto seemed to have picked up some new tricks.

Naruto nodded his head thinking about it, although there was a nasty pressure in his groin that he might have to take care later, he wasn't sure he was ready for that too. So they just sat there with her head resting on his shoulder as they lightly caressed each other. Despite everything it would seem that he did get some good advice from the old pervert. He wasn't sure when but suddenly he looked forward to marrying Temari and spending his life with her. Maybe it wasn't what he thought would happened but maybe dreams can change.

After a bit of time, both were feeling a bit too hot so Temari with some regret pulled away. "We better get out before we're boiled."

"Okay Temari-chan," He said smiling not even noticing when he added in the honorific.

Temari blushed a bit at being called that but she had on a small pleased smile. "Come on, we'll go out and have ramen tonight...Naruto-kun." She smiled a bit more at calling him that. It somehow seemed right to call him that now. Naruto blinked in surprise at it but soon he had a matching happy smile of his own on his face.

**Next up chapter 17: Countdown to the big day**


	17. Countdown to the Big Day

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 17: Countdown to the big day**

Sakura was with her team waiting for Kakashi to show up as usual, although there was something different going on. She had noticed that Naruto and Temari were off to the side talking. This wasn't unusual but she did notice they seemed closer than before. Plus she noticed the additions to the end of their names they were using lately. She couldn't help but smile at them and was happy for the two of them. When this first started she had been a little worried, Naruto looked so depressed. Now however things were different and it was good that both found some happiness in each other.

It was also nice to have another girl on the team, she couldn't count the number of times she wished Ino or some other girl was around to talk to, there were just some things you couldn't talk about with boys. Over the time she had been on her team, Sakura had formed a friendship with the older girl and a respect for her as well. She was an amazing ninja for her age and it only showed just how much farther she needed to go. She took her training a lot more seriously now and with Temari's help had improved.

In the past week she and Temari started to hang out a bit and with the other girls. It was nice that Temari was starting to fit in with them all. Sakura was also excited at being the maid of honor for the wedding, she was all giddy and excited about it. She already had to plan out her dress and hair for it all and she was looking forward to it.

It was another thirty minutes before Kakashi finally showed up but something seemed off with him and it was Sakura that noticed it first.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you limping?" Sakura asked him as everyone took noticed of it now.

Kakashi sweat dropped at the question. He had hoped that no one would notice, he and Anko had spent a lot of time yesterday getting rid of apparently a lot of tension out of their systems. The last thing he needed was for them to try and find out why he had pulled that muscle. He never knew that Anko was so flexible but that one position had nearly killed them.

He knew that he had to quickly thing of an excuse, now believe it or not he could lie like the best of them when he needed to. It was just that he hadn't really cared to cover up why he was late at times, it was more fun to make up blatant lies. Plus it made people think that he was a very bad lying so when he actually made good lies people would believe them.

"Well yesterday I was getting in some training and I think I went a bit overboard," Kakashi told them with a straight face.

"Training?" Naruto asked him.

"Of course," He said to the boy. "Even a jonin needs to keep training Naruto, or else we run the risk of our skills degrading. Where do you think I go after our team is done for the day?"

Naruto thought about that, "I guess that makes sense."

Kakashi mentally sighed, he really didn't want them to know the real reason he pulled that muscle. He was also glad that the bulk of his body was covered up. Anko had put a few scratches and love bites as well, then again she didn't exactly leave his place unmarked as well. When she left she said something about finding something to wear around her neck for the next day.

Training went on as usual, Kakashi would have them do certain exercises and drill then comment and show how to improve them. They worked on team movements and how to coordinate attacks in battle, then were was the personal training session. He helped out with their fighting skills, showing what they were doing wrong and offering advice here and there. It was a light training day today since he couldn't really move all that much. By the end of it he dismissed them all but he had to pull Sasuke aside for a moment.

"Sasuke I would like to talk to you for a moment," Kakashi said to the last Uchiha in the village.

"Alright," the young boy said as the two moved off to the side.

"I've been working on a new seal that should help to nullify the curse mark on your neck. The first seal I put on there was the best I could come up with, but I'm not a seals master. The new one I made with the help of two others I believe will ensure that it won't interfere with you at all." Kakashi told him.

He knew that the curse mark could hinder someone's progress as a ninja if they weren't with Orochimaru that is. Anko herself had to learn how to get where she was by stepping around the effects of her curse mark. He also wanted to make sure that Sasuke didn't take the offer of power that the mark offered, because of the price for that power. The new seal would ensure that a person couldn't really use the mark unless they actually wanted to, instead of just acting out during strong emotional times.

Sasuke however didn't like this idea, he had been experimenting with the curse mark on his own and so far he was making some slow progress. He wasn't sure what it did but it seemed to make his chakra more powerful and potent. He would need this power one day and he didn't want to give it up.

"Thanks but I don't need it," Sasuke told him.

Kakashi blinked a few times, "Sasuke that curse mark can act up at any time."

"But only if I want it, you said so yourself that the current seal that's on it."

"Well, yes I did say that," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "But it still could act up in moments of great emotional strain."

"I'm willing to take that risk," Sasuke told him.

Kakashi got a bit more serious now, "Sasuke that mark is dangerous, are you willing to put your team in danger because of it?"

Sasuke knew he had to think of something fast to convince him to drop this. "Are you trying to force this seal on me, like how Orochimaru forced this mark on me?"

Kakashi paused for a moment at that, he wanted to come up with a counter argument but the boy was right. He couldn't just force him to go through with it. The first seal had been voluntary but he wasn't going to stoop to Orochimaru's level. He had seen the kind of thing thinking did to others, even if it was for good but that was a slippery slope. He had hoped that he would have gone through with it.

But it would seem that the boy was determined against this for some strange reason, it was a bit suspicious to tell the truth. He might have to keep a closer watch on the boy though because of this.

"Fine then I won't force this but it better not become an issue because I can still go to the Hokage about this and she can force this kind of action if it becomes a problem."

"It won't," Sasuke said as he walked off.

Kakashi sighed all that work and the boy just brushes it off. If it wasn't for what led to this new thing between him and Anko he would have said all that time and effort had been put to waste. Well at least he had that coming out of all of that work and that was something he found he was glad for.

**-Suna-**

Gaara was overlooking the new recruits for Suna; with their diminished manpower they needed more ninja than never. As one of the larger Ninja Villages they needed to keep their strength up or risk other countries invading and taking power. Although things had been different since the failed invasion some things still stayed the same. People were still afraid of him, although now it seemed a bit lesser than normal but still he knew it would take time for them to see he had changed.

But still as one of the more experienced ninja he was to help train the new recruits to pass their genin testing. With so many ninja lost they had to promote more students to genin faster to make up for the losses. As he watched the weapons training he couldn't help but think of the new person they had to replace Temari. Matsuri a young girl who had just passed her genin exam was now on his team. He knew that the only reason she was on the team was that because no one else wanted to work with him. It seemed a bit odd how the girl didn't show any fear towards him.

Thinking back on it, the first time they had met was when he was teaching a weapons class, the girl had been afraid to use any bladed weapons. Gaara was the only one to go up to her and explain how the weapons she chose were not for her, how someone thought that picking up a war hammer that was twice your weight was a good idea he couldn't fathom. But then something had happened. A group in Suna that was opposed to his existence had tried to assassinate him; Gaara thought that with his father's death those would have stopped.

Apparently it had been some group that his father left orders that if he had died, then they were to kill Gaara at any cost. One of them had seen him talking to Matsuri and had actually kidnapped her in an effort to lure him into a trap. The old Gaara wouldn't have done a thing, but Matsuri was the first person to reach out to him without fear. At the time she had only been a student but as he spent time with her and training her he found that she became important. He didn't have many friends and he considered her a friend.

The group had set up a sealing trap for him in the desert he had to admit that he hadn't been prepared for it. It had been a simple trap that froze sand in its place by using several seals hidden in the sand. Apparently it had been made with him in mind. Without his sand he had found himself defenceless for the first time in his life. But Matsuri had managed to slip out of her bonds and started to fight with the rogue ninja. She managed to destroy one of the seals before being injured but it was enough to get his sand back.

That day only Gaara and Matsuri made it back to the village, and he was sure that no one would find the bodies of those men. The desert had a way of keeping things buried in its sands for all time. But soon after that she had passed her testing and had been assigned to his team. Gaara was unused to feeling happy, but he was happy to have her with them now. She was a bit shy but as his brother said 'she makes things interesting'.

Although she did help to fill the void in their team, she didn't fill the void of his sister. Gaara found that he missed Temari more than he thought he would. Ever since he started to care about others he found more new feelings would show up and apparently new types of pain. She wrote to them of course and they wrote back, well Kankuro wrote back he just said a few things for him to write down in the letters.

"So how are the newbies?" Kankuro asked as he walked up to his brother.

"Adequate."

"Don't hold back let me know how you really feel with that kind of praise." The puppet user smirked. In the time Temari left he had started to get closer to his kid brother. Sure he could be downright scary as hell at times but he wasn't that old murder anyone on sight like he used to be. He was downright friendly, well friendly was as good a term as he could use with Gaara.

Gaara fixed him with a stare and he backed off a bit knowing the warning look of his little brother.

"Well I got a letter from Temari today," he said to him. "Things seem to be going well in fact I think she's starting to like that kid."

Gaara gave a slight movement of his head at that, although on the outside he didn't seem to care on the inside he was smiling. He knew that Naruto was like himself and if he could find happiness than there was hope for him as well. Plus the fact that his older sister was beginning to be happy was also good.

"At any rate we were told the date of the wedding and when to show up," his brother went on. "She also said to bring Baki-sensei along and if she wants the new girl can come as well."

"She has a name," Gaara told him.

"Yeah I know but she's got a long way to go to get to Temari's level. Can't believe I'm admitting to this but our sister was pretty good. Now that she's gone the team is a bit off."

"Matsuri will fill the void, just give her time and I think she should come with us."

Kankuro couldn't help but smirk, if he didn't know any better he swore his little brother was growing a little sweet on the girl. Then again she was the first and only girl not to flinch when Gaara looked at them. Hell the girl actually admired his little brother and by the way she blushed a few times maybe more than just admired. He had to stop himself from snickering, he had told Temari about this and his thoughts that there was something more going on. Temari was interested in this for the same reasons, plus she wanted to meet the girl.

That was why he brought up brining Matsuri along, if he invited her then Gaara might thing he was up to something, which he was of course. Now it seemed that Gaara would want her to come, so he could sit back and watch.

"Gaara-san, Kankuro-san!"

'_Ah speaking of said girl,'_ Kankuro thought as he saw the young girl run up to them. She had on more traditional Suna gear since she made genin. Mostly light clothing and light chest armor, with gauntlets and shin protectors all in dark grey type of colors. Her short brown hair framed her face nicely and he thought that you could say she was cute. But she was a little to young and too shy for his tastes.

"Hey what's up?" the puppet user asked.

"Baki-sensei said that we have a mission tomorrow in country of Fang, so we're supposed to get the right supplies for it." Matsuri said to them.

"Fang? Man I hope it's not another recon mission against Beast, that's getting old already." Kankuro knew of the tensions between the two smaller nations. Sure it gave other ninja villages some nice income and their village did need the money, but they were also boring. Unless they came upon a team hired by the other country, it was the only thing to look forward to.

"Thank you for telling us," Gaara said to her failing to notice the slight blush on her cheeks when he talked to her.

"I-It wasn't a problem Gaara-san," Matsuri stammered a little. She couldn't help it, whenever she was in his presence she felt her stomach had butterflies in it. Ever since that day he first came up to her she had strange feelings and the only seemed to get worse as the more time she spent with him. She heard all the stories about him, but she couldn't see him as a monster. In fact he looked lonely to her he always stood alone like he was apart from the world. It made her a little sad to think that and how he must feel at times.

Kankuro noticed how the girl was staring at Gaara and resisted giving off a small laugh. The girl had something for him that he was sure of then he thought of the perfect opportunity to test something out.

"So Gaara, don't you have something to tell her as well?" Kankuro said.

Gaara looked at him before looking at the confused girl, "You're invited to my sister's wedding, you'll be coming with us when we leave."

"You want me to come with you to your sister's wedding?" She asked shocked by it. Gaara just nodded and the girl wasn't sure what to think at first, as this was very surprising to the young girl. She did feel touched that he would want her to go with them for such a big moment. She had never met Temari personally so she was looking forward to it.

"Oh no, I don't have anything to wear for a wedding!" The young girl knew this was a big affair and looking like some low class civilian wouldn't do at all.

"Don't worry it's still a bit off," Kankuro told her. "We can help you out when we get back, we all need to get proper things to wear to this anyway." Besides he knew that Temari would kill them if they showed up in just their regular ninja clothing for this. He knew that she secretly wanted a grand wedding since she was a kid (thanks to reading her dairy once), so they had better get some decent clothing for it.

He mentally grinned as he thought that when they did get back from their new mission, he would plan on disappearing and letting Gaara and Matsuri along when she was trying on a dress. Girls like a second opinion on these things and he was sure he could set this up. Besides it was just too much fun messing with the two of them, how she got all embarrassed and how Gaara looked confused because of it.

One of these days he might have to pull Gaara aside and explain why she blushed and stammered at times, but not any time soon. When he had run out of fun then he might do that, but for now he was going to sit back and enjoy the show. It was a shame Temari was missing all the fun.

**-Konoha-**

Time passed quickly for everyone the village was coming along nicely with the repairs but still awhile off completion. But now there was another matter that people were talking about. That was the upcoming wedding of Naruto and the former Suna-nin Temari. Already the wedding would be taken on the top of the Hokage Tower along with the reception. Mainly due to the fact it was so large, it also had good security but it was also because most of the good places to hold it were still under repairs. Still, Tsunade was actually starting to have some fun. Since Naruto and Temari were getting along very well she hoped that things would work out great for them. Plus there was something about weddings that she liked, maybe due to the fact she knew she was too old for one but still it would be nice to see Naruto happy for once.

Already the guest list had been made out, Suna would send their representatives and Temari's team would be there. The heads of all the clans would show up with some guests, Naruto's friends and teammates were also there as were the elders of the council.

All in all it was going to be a major event for the village, there hadn't been a marriage of this nature in the village before even though the tradition did go back before the rise of the ninja villages.

But still there were a few more things that they needed to get done. She looked at the clock on the wall and Temari and Naruto should be arriving in her office soon. She gave them instructions to show up for today to make the final preparations. So she had a little time to relax for a bit, when she agreed to do this job she had an idea of what to expect. But the reality of it all was something more than what she thought. There was the mountain of paper work, then dealing with council members, planning out missions and there was this whole wedding thing. At first she had been worried this wouldn't work out too well.

After all she knew that Naruto used to have that crush on another teammate but it would seem that things were going well enough, thankfully.

"I wonder if Hokages get to take vacations," she muttered.

"Well I know a nice little spot with a hot springs if you're interested."

Tsunade's peaceful moment was ruined by a certain white haired pervert that was currently sitting on her window. She glared at him hating it when he did that. "You would try to take me to one of her perverted spots to try and see me naked again. Didn't you learn your lesson that last time you tried that?"

Jiraiya paled a bit remembering that day, he had been peeking through a hole and she had just rose out of the water. Her backside was just as good as the front. That is until he made a noise against the wall and she noticed the hole. The resulting punch that she threw went right through the hall and into his face. That had stunned him enough for her to march over and given him one of the worst beatings of his life.

But oddly enough he'd do it again if he could get enough distance between them one had only to just look at Tsunade to understand those reasons.

"Well I was just trying to be nice, you looked a little stressed." He said trying to get the conversation off him.

"You try this job for awhile," she muttered as she sighed.

"Why do you think I turned it down?" He grinned at her. "Besides that fact I'm busy with my spy network, I knew the kind of job this was and I also knew I wasn't the right person for it."

"I really should have thought it through," she sighed as she rubbed her temples.

"You need to learn how to relax I would think a medic like yourself would know better than that." He stated.

"Trying to find the time to relax is hard enough so when I do I keep thinking about work."

"You need something to do to take your mind off your work, how do you think sensei got through years of this?"

"I'm not reading your perverted books or taking up peeping." She told him flatly.

"Not suggesting that," He said in a more serious tone. "You know I know a few things that I could try to help out."

Tsunade shot him an angry glare, did the man not know when the stop? You'd think that putting him into a near coma once would have made her point. It just seemed that since the first day he hadn't let up with flirting with her or other things of that nature.

"Now hear me out Hime," He said holding his hands up in defence. "What if I promise no perverted touching on my part? I mean if I tried something I would be easy reach with your fist and I promise this will work out."

Tsunade continued to glare at him as she thought about it, but honestly at this point she could use anything and it would be very easy to pummel him if he tried anything truly perverted.

"Fine but you try anything and I won't heal you after it."

"That's fair now stand up and cross your arms over your chest...no really this is how it works." He said seeing the look he got. She did it and he got behind her, he wrapped his arms around her and just before she could yell he leaned back and the sound of cracking were heard.

Tsunade moaned as she felt her entire spine loosen up as he gently placed her back on the ground. "Okay that feels a bit better."

"Now the next part is for you to sit down," he said.

She did so and felt his hands on her shoulders she was about to protests but the back thing worked. She tried not to enjoy it but it would seem that he was in fact very good at this. She could feel the stress in her shoulders and back easing up after a few minutes.

"Jeez, you weren't kidding about the stress," Jiraiya said as he found knots of stress all over her. "You really could use a vacation."

"Liked to but too much to do," she sighed.

"You really do need a hobby or something, maybe go and treat yourself now and then. Hell, go get a back massage since you could use it. But honestly you'll put yourself into an early grave and you know no one wants that."

Tsunade only groaned when he got rid of a bad knot that even she didn't know she had. Maybe she should try and find some kind of stress relief. After all she wasn't young anymore despite her looks she needed to take better care of herself. There was a sudden knock on the door and she quickly made him take her hands off her. She couldn't let anyone see she had been enjoying that.

"Well I'll leave you to it," Jiraiya smiled. "I got a few things to take care of but if you really do need any more of that I'll be willing to any time."

"I'm sure you would," she said in a neutral tone making sure he was gone out the window before she called in whoever was at the door.

She wasn't surprised to see Naruto and Temari but she did smile at how they were holding hands as they entered.

**-Later-**

Temari was resting against one of the larger trees in the backyard of her home it had been a long day today. After training both she and Naruto were called up to the Hokage's office to go over the final details of the wedding. They had to go over the vows which Temari insisted to be their own, go over what they needed to do and what was ready. Naruto tried his best but she took pity on him and let him run messages to various places for them. She knew that Naruto hated to sit still for long periods of time anyway, and this would put all that energy to good use.

By the end of it all, both of them were tired, Temari was more mentally tired than physical but both of them were glad to get to their home. They ate lunch outside today since it was such a nice day under the tree they were both under. Naruto had fallen asleep and his head was resting on her lap. She didn't mind at all, in face her hand hadn't stopped running through his golden hair. It amazed her by the intensity of the color of his hair, she was a blonde too but Naruto's color was like the sun. She also found his hair soft, despite how it stuck out all over the place.

She even lightly traced the lines on his cheeks and she smiled when she saw him sigh and smile a bit in his sleep.

Temari had to admit that he looked very cute like this. It was strange how things had changed, the first day she met him she didn't think much of him. Then she noticed him a bit when he defeated that Neji boy in a total upset victory. Fear was next when she saw how he fought her youngest brother and had been the first and only person in history to defeat Gaara. When she came back to this village she was scared that she was going to marry him but as she got to know him her feelings changed.

She wasn't sure when she started to like him but she did, in fact she did care for him a lot more than she ever thought she would when all this started. As she ran her hands through his hair she could suddenly see herself doing this for years. Looking up at the home she could almost see her future here. There was Naruto although taller in her mind, both of them older of course with them watching two children playing. She wanted at least one boy and one girl in her life, if they ever had more, well they would talk about that later.

The ex-Suna nin found herself smiling at the thought of her future here for the first time. This was a nice place to raise children and they would have a better change for a decent childhood than either she or Naruto had. There would be no pressure to be the 'perfect Kage's kid' like she had been. When Naruto did become Hokage (and she came to think he could actually do it one day) she wouldn't force her children to behave like her father had forced her.

And knowing Naruto, he would ensure their children would be happy. He had struggled for happiness as a child and she knew that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let his own kids feel that kind of sadness in life. In fact she had a very good feeling that Naruto would be a great father, he would love their children like they were the most precious things in the world. That would be a lot better than her own father had been as she thought about it. There were a lot of things they would do differently but she wasn't ready for children just yet.

Maybe in a few years things would be different.

At the moment she just wanted to enjoy this moment, it was nice just resting like this. After they were married she was thinking of them sharing a room. It was only fair and there was a small part of her that liked the idea of him next to her. Of course there were other reasons as well, she was still a young woman and lately she had been thinking about the more adult things they could get up to. Lately he had been very good at the physical stuff with their relationship, she wasn't sure how though. Maybe it was a natural talent as he did have the ability to suddenly get better at certain things or improve in leaps.

Well whatever the reason she wasn't planning on stopping it, she was enjoying it too much. Although they never went too far, lately she had wanted to go a bit further but was unsure of herself. They were both technically young, but they were legal adults as soon as they became ninja. They went out on missions where they could be killed, tortured or a number of things. Hell she had already killed in her life while on missions and had seen Gaara kill countless times. If someone was old enough for that then sex shouldn't really be an issue.

Maybe she was just nervous, after all Naruto was the only boy that she had opened her heart up to and she wanted that time to be perfect. She smiled down at him again sure he was a little rough around the edges, a bit of an idiot at times, loud, liked ramen and orange way too much. But he had the biggest heart in the world, he never gave up, he was never boring and she could trust him with anything. Maybe she was falling in love with the boy, with both the good and the bad that came with it.

Soon they would be married and he would all be hers and to be truthful she was starting to like the idea of him being just for her. She also knew that she would be for him as well.

Naruto finally stirred as he slowly woke up to see Temari smiling down at him. He felt really nice where he was, it was comfortable as he looked up at the pretty girl smiling down at him. He couldn't help but smile back, and this was one of his true smiles, not the large goofy ones but a real one.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah don't worry it's been a long day," Temari told him gently running her hands through his hair.

He gave a soft moan, "That feels nice Temari-chan…"

She was glad to hear it, after all it was nice for her as well. She heard his stomach growl and she nearly laughed at the embarrassed look on his face. "I guess that means it's time to eat then."

Of course her own stomach chose to do the same and Naruto could only grin up at her blushing face. "Guess that makes two of us huh?"

"S-shut up," She said still blushing in embarrassment.

"Come on I'll make it up to you after dinner," he said.

She gave him a sidelong glance, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Naruto only grinned at her and she felt her mouth twitch in a smile getting the feeling she would know exactly what he was planning on doing.

**Next up Chapter 18: Last Day of Freedom**

**Before anyone says anything in a review, I know the thing with Gaara and Matsuri is different than canon but I wanted it different. And I know it was only summarized but I left it like that for a couple of reasons. The first being I didn't want to move too far away from the core of the story. Second, I left it like that because I might make a spin-off short fic based on that event. I'm not sure about it yet but I felt it could be an interesting short story companion fic for this one day.**


	18. Last Day of Freedom

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 18: Last Day of Freedom **

Temari was excited because her brothers and old teacher were coming today. They were supposed to have been here earlier but a storm made them stop for a day. She had been worried they would have actually missed the wedding. It was hard for her to think that in a few short days she would be married and her name would be Temari Uzumaki. Although she didn't mind taking his last name, plus after getting a few days used to it, it sounded nice to her. It rolled off the tongue plus it seemed to make Naruto happy that she was going to take his name. Maybe because it would mean he wouldn't be the only Uzumaki in the village anymore, a sign that he wasn't alone, that he had family or just all of those reasons.

At any rate she was waiting at the main gate with Naruto as they waited for her old team to arrive. She was looking forward to meeting this new girl that they had. From the letters it seemed that she not only wasn't afraid of her brother but she might actually like him. That was a strange notion to get over the first time she read that. At first she had assumed that her brother was just being an idiot but with more letters she was beginning to think maybe there was hope for her baby brother. He seemed to have grown more as a person since she had left and she was looking forward to seeing it.

"Don't worry it shouldn't be long," Naruto smiled up at her.

"What makes you think I'm anxious to see them?" She asked him neutrally.

His smile just got bigger, "Because family is important and I know you miss them. I know I would if I was away from my family."

Temari noticed the slight sad look in his eyes but it vanished as quickly as it came. She felt a stab of sadness in her, after all this time she had seen the real Naruto, the one that was behind the mask of false smiles and laughter. He acted like things didn't bother him, maybe it was just a defence mechanism he had grown into over time, but he couldn't hide it from her anymore. She took his hand and he looked up in surprise as her warm smile.

"Just remember that you are part of a family now." She said gently to him. She noticed a small smile on his face. This was the ones he used when he was truly happy. It didn't take long until figures in the distance appeared and as they got closer she could see her brothers, her old sensei and a younger girl that had to be Matsuri.

When they got close enough Kankuro smiled as he raised a hand in greeting, "Hey sis, how have you been?"

Temari smiled broadly and happily to see them again, she had missed them a lot and it just felt good to see them in the flesh after all this time. "I'm doing good here, I hope you have been staying out of trouble without me around."

"Of course."

Gaara gave him a look, "Then what was that foolishness that you caused on the last mission?"

"Gaara!" Kankuro said in shock and surprise that the boy would bring that up. Then he noticed Temari giving him the 'look'. He hated the 'look', it was the look that a big sister gave to her younger siblings and he knew that he would get an earful if she learned of the accident that happened. It wasn't his fault he got into that fight, the guy had said something about his puppet and he felt the need to defend him.

So he quickly pulled the young girl to his left in front of him as she gave a slight surprised little squeal at being manhandled without warning. "Hey say hello to Matsuri here, she isn't much now but she's getting there."

"N-nice to meet you Temari-san," The younger girl bowed to the oldest of the siblings. She had never meet Temari in person and although she had heard stories it didn't do the blonde girl justice. Just by looking at her, Matsuri could tell that Temari wasn't your average kunoichi. She radiated confidence, strength and intelligence, all things that was a bit inspiring and intimidating to her.

It was now Naruto's turn to say something seeing the girl. "Oh is this the girl that you said had a-ow!"

Temari had given Naruto a slight whack to the back of the head giving him a warning look. He knew about the letters and he had been about to say how the girl was supposed to have a crush on Gaara. Apparently Temari would have to try and train Naruto in tact later.

Naruto got the message as he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Uzumaki-san." The girl said politely, she had heard of Naruto. In fact much of her village knew of him already, when it was told who Temari was to marry, it got people interested. Then when the information that he was the only one to defeat Gaara came out later it only added to the mystery.

Although he seemed very nice, she was a little confused. He didn't look that strong or at least strong enough to defeat Gaara.

Naruto blinked a bit at being addressed so formally, he felt a little embarrassed as he gave her a huge smile. "Oh you don't have to call me that, just Naruto will do you know. So Gaara how have you been?"

"Doing better, I don't kill as many people now." The boy said in his usual monotone voice. Everyone sweat dropped at that, not sure if he was making a joke or being serious.

"Ah-well good to hear," Naruto said nervously.

"Have you been treating my sister well?" the red head asked.

"Huh, yeah why?" the blonde blinked.

"Good, I have no reason to harm you then," Gaara told him.

Naruto suddenly had a vision of Temari going off crying to Gaara about him being mean to her and Gaara burying him in a ton of sand. Naruto shivered as he broke out of the daydream and really hoped that he never did anything to Temari.

"Anyways, let's get you all settled," Temari told them. "We don't have much room for everyone so we set you all up at one of the hotels."

"That will be fine," Baki said as they walked on. "I'm hoping that I can see what kind of progress you've made in the Leaf Village since you've come here. Kakashi Hatake is a legend already and it will be interesting to see the man in person."

'_Don't get your hopes up on your expectations of the man,'_ Temari thought sourly to herself.

**-Jiraiya-**

Jiraiya was a man on a mission, and that mission was to make sure that this was a night that Naruto or anyone would never forget. The only thing was that he had to find that Iruka fellow, Naruto had told the old man who he picked for a best man and although the old sage would have loved to have been asked, he knew that Naruto had a stronger bond with the young chunin. Now however he wanted to ensure that his apprentice got the party of a lifetime, getting married at such a young age before he got to know all the thrills life had (meaning women) was a sad thing. Although he was getting married to that blonde girl and she was a looker. He grinned perversely as he thought of the fun that boy was going to have on his wedding night. He had already scouted for possible peeping positions.

It wasn't perverted, he was just ensuring his student put his teachings on how to pleasure a woman to good use. At least that's what he planned to say if he was caught and stuck with it, besides he needed a love scene with the two main characters of his new book and what better time than a wedding night? Okay sure they were a little too young for his taste, he preferred older women but he was an artist and he would do almost anything for his art.

He also chuckled at how Tsunade lately had seemed to have got addicted to his little 'stress relieve' program. He added in teas and a few other things so she wouldn't think him a complete pervert, but those times he managed to work those knots out of her shoulders were times he cherished. Although many thought his feelings for Tsunade were just lust (and with a body like that who wouldn't feel that) but the truth was he had been in love with her at first sight.

He still remembered how when he first met her he thought she was the most amazing girl he had ever met. Of course his usual lines didn't work on her, that only got him more interested in her. Why else hadn't he settled down after all this time? The fact was he had been in love with her. But it wasn't all good, when her brother had died he tried to be there for her but then she went into the arms of another man.

At first he hated Dan with a passion but never showed it, but he saw how happy he made her so he left them alone. So broken hearted he tried to bury his feelings and go into his works. Thankfully Minato came along at that point and he could focus on that boy. When Dan had died he hated to see how it broke her heart, he tried to comfort her but she had put up a wall around her and he couldn't get through. For decease he longed for her but she kept that wall up, that is until Naruto arrived and somehow broke that wall down. He hadn't seen Tsunade this happy in decades and he was thankful for the boy. Now it looked like he might have a chance to make up all the time, but he wouldn't push things.

Despite how she was, she was very fragile inside with certain things. He also didn't want to overstep things but if they ever progressed then maybe after all this time she would open her heart up to him. But he was prepared for rejection, after all this time he knew things didn't always work out for the best.

It was then that he found Iruka, he grinned as he walked over to the younger man.

"Hello there, you're Iruka right? My apprentice's old teacher?"

Iruka looked over the white haired man and instantly knew who he was, after all he had a teacher and there was a whole chapter in Konoha history about the Legendary Three.

"J-Jiraiya-sama!?"

He smirked at the honorific, as this might be easier than he thought. "I understand it that you're my apprentice's best man, so what have you got in store for his pre-wedding party?"

Iruka hadn't really thought about it, "I-I thought that Naruto was too young for a bachelor party if that is what you're getting at."

Jiraiya made a disgruntled face. "Well that won't do at all, besides who said what kind of party. He should at least get together with his friends to celebrate right? I know that Tsunade will be doing the same with Temari."

Iruka felt worried now, first Jiraiya seemed to be disappointed in him which Iruka felt at himself now as well. He hadn't really thought about this, he never been a best man before so he didn't know what to do. How could he possibly get everything together in such a short time?

Jiraiya saw the worried look and he had to fight himself from smirking, this was going to be too easy. "Look I already got a spot reserved I came to see if you wanted to use it but if you're in such a bind all you got to do it gather up those male friends of Naruto. Then bring them to this address at the time on it." He handed him a piece of paper which the other man looked thankful to get. "The kid should go out with a celebration with getting married don't you think?"

"Of course, I'm sorry about this I had no idea about any of this." Iruka said a little down. He was glad that Jiraiya had set things up. If only he knew the man on a more personal level he might have suspected that the old man was up to something, well he was going to find out later that night just how crafty the old ninja could be.

**-That Night-**

Temari and Naruto were in their living room talking about how things would go at the wedding. Both were a little nervous more so with Naruto, he was worried that he might mess things up. They already had a few rehearsals and he managed to get through it finally but he was still nervous. Just then there was a knock at the door. Naruto looked on confused as he wasn't really expecting anyone so he got up and went to the front door and opened it.

"Get him!" A voice yelled and suddenly several people jumped Naruto.

"What the hell!?" Naruto yelled feeling himself getting tied up.

"What is going on!" Temari shouted standing up from her place on the couch seeing her future husband being attacked.

Jiraiya stood up from the pile as Kiba and Iruka were finishing tying up Naruto. "Don't worry, we're just 'kidnapping' him for his party tonight. I know that the women are coming over here for their own little party. I'll have him back by morning at least."

Temari looked to see an angry Naruto yelling at them to let them go. She wasn't sure if she should trust the old pervert but a part of her knew that the boys would be looking forward to it. She grinned as she looked at him. "Alright just try not to damage him too much."

"Temari-chan!" Naruto whined.

"It's for your own good Naruto-kun," Temari said giving him a wink.

Naruto shouted as the men then started to carry him off. He kept on trying to get free but Iruka still know how to make knots that even he had trouble with. After some time he finally started to settle down as he just let them carry him. They would have to let him go eventually so he was going to wait.

"So what's all this about anyway?" Naruto muttered.

"It's your bachelor party kid," Jiraiya said to him. "All men that are going to marry should have one, everyone will be there and trust me you'll enjoy it."

"So…it's a party, for me?" The boy asked and when the old man nodded Naruto changed his mind on this. He never really had a party for himself before; this might be fun after all. Little did he know just what a bachelor party was and what was in it. Plus if he had known that Jiraiya had planned this out then he really would have known what to expect, but he would soon find out.

When they got inside they let him loose and he could see everyone of his male friends were there. He even saw a few of the adults that he knew like Kakashi, Asuma, Gai and even Teuchi from the ramen stand. He even saw that guy from Suna with half his face covered was here, Sasuke was even brooding in the back alone as usual.

"So man how's it feel to be the first to get married?" Kiba asked as he came up to Naruto.

"Weird," Naruto said to the taller boy. "But also nice. I mean I wasn't sure about Temari-chan and I could be happy but, well..." Naruto blushed a bit as he smiled thinking of Temari.

Kiba saw this and laughed as he slapped him on the back hard enough to nearly topple the shorter boy. "Man you got it bad, but she is kind of good looking."

"Are you making a reference to my sister?" A cold neutral tone was heard and Kiba got very still. He slowly looked around to see Gaara looking at him. Kiba had heard from Naruto that Gaara had been changing but it would take a long time to forget seeing that guy use his sand to turn a team into bloody mist.

"Uh, hey didn't see you there." Kiba said obviously nervous.

Gaara just stared at him for a moment, "Was that a reference to my height?"

Kiba make a slight choking sound as he quickly made an excuse to go talk to Neji. Although he walked off he walked off as fast as he could. Naruto then caught a small twitch on Gaara's mouth.

"Where you playing with him?" Naruto asked.

"I've been working on my sense of humour as it were, although so far no one really gets it." Gaara said in all seriousness. Naruto just broke out laughing leaving Gaara a little confused but happy that his friend seemed to get his sense of humour.

Later on when everyone was talking and drinking and having a good time, Jiraiya took Naruto and then placed him in a chair, "Now then my boy there is one thing that all bachelor parties need and especially for the man of the moment."

"Oh what's that?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya grinned as he raised a hand to the man at the bar, soon there was hard rock music and the lights lowered. Jiraiya giggled as two ladies walked into the room suddenly, dressed in different coloured kimonos and with their hair put up and held with Chinese style pins. Both women appeared to be twins and had a very beautiful look in their early twenties.

"So we here there is a lucky young man getting married," One of them said.

"Believe it or not ladies this is the lucky man," Jiraiya said pointing to Naruto.

One of them leaned down and pinched his cheek, "My aren't you a cute one, they sure are getting young these days."

"Naruto these are Mai and Miu, I knew them from awhile back." Jiraiya said to him.

"You mean you knew our mother, Jiraiya-sama." Mai giggled. "She always said you were one of her favourite customers."

"Ah it's so nice to see a family business," Jiraiya giggled.

"S-So what exactly do you two do?" Naruto asked blushing a little.

Both smiled at him as they started to move in slow silky movements and undid their hair making the dark hair fall down to their backs. Then they undid the sashes on their belts and pressed themselves against each other. The twins slowly started to open up each robe and undress the other. By this point everyone was too shocked by the site of two hot looking twins undressing each other.

Slowly they were only dressed in long stockings, a thong and bras that were very skimpy. They got on each side of Naruto as they slowly caressed him and one of them leaned to his ear.

"We're profession adult entertainers, we do everything from geisha to stripping." Miu said softly.

"That's right we learned everything from mother per-son-al-ly." Mai said next.

It was at that point a few of the men fell back with nose bleeds while the others were able to keep calm. Gai looked like he was between shock and horror at such an unyouthful moment, Asuma blushed and tried to avoid staring too hard. Kakashi seemed to take it in stride although he was wondering if he could hunt down Anko later on and see is she was up for something. He was getting a hard on from this, although he did have a feeling Jiraiya had something planned, just not this good.

Neji was trying to keep his Hyuga composure but it wasn't easy, he had never seen anything like this before, while his team mate Lee was just frozen in place unsure what to think of it. Kiba was grinning and was a bit envious of Naruto at the moment. Gaara and Kankuro who had been asked to join along with their sensei were there too. Gaara look just neutral as always while Kankuro was enjoying the show, he only hoped that Temari never found out about this or else she would kill Naruto. He noticed that Naruto's face was all red and he was sweating like crazy as the women teased him.

"Now this is a party," Kankuro said grinning. Then he noticed Gaara and the slight difference in his stance, unless you knew what to look for you'd miss it. "Don't worry I get the feeling he'll not let things get too far."

"He better not." Gaara said back.

Meanwhile Naruto was caught between heaven and hell, heaven because of the two beautiful women and hell because if Temari even found out she would kill him in the most painful way possible. Although they did smell really nice and their skin felt really soft.

'_No damn it! Don't act like Ero-sennin!'_ He thought no matter how hard it was not to notice.

Mai reached up and undid the knot behind her neck as a piece of her top fell down a bit. "Oops looks like I had a bit of an accident."

Naruto's heart couldn't take anymore if this kept up.

"You know you are free to touch us in any way as long as it's not between our legs little man," Miu said in a husky tone as she pressed her impressive breasts against him.

"R-really?" Naruto gulped and for a moment he thought about it. After all, this would be his only chance for something like this and they looked very nice to touch. But then he thought of Temari and he frowned, he just couldn't do it. It would hurt her if she found out about this and honestly he didn't feel right about it. "I...I can't...I can't do this. I really like Temari-chan and this would betray her, so I'm sorry..."

Then he felt both tops laid out on his head as the cups covered his eyes.

"You sure?" One of them said and he gave a very weak nod. They giggled as they each gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Well whoever this girl is I hope she knows how lucky she is."

"But I think the rest of the party will appreciate us," the other twin said. "Just remember you can look, that's not cheating."

Naruto just sat there wondering if he should just leave the tops on his head but eventually he pulled them down and when he saw both women topless he got a huge nose bleed as he shot back and fell onto his back in the chair.

Kiba and Neji were trying not to stare well Neji wasn't he was brought up to respect women but Kiba was stealing as many looks as he could. "Oh man I'm going to be dreaming about this for months." Kiba groaned.

Neji grunted, "I hope you don't act like that towards women when my cousin is around."

"Hey I treat Hinata very well," Kiba said offended by his insinuation about him.

"I should hope so," Neji said to him but then nearly jumped when a bare pair of arms wrapped around him and two large fleshy mounds pressed up against his back.

"Now you boys shouldn't fight," Mai said in a sultry voice as she gently rubbed up against him. "This is supposed to be a celebration."

Neji gulped as he tried to remain in control but having a beautiful and mostly naked woman pressed up against him like that put his Hyuga control on the breaking point. Kiba looked on from his seat jealous until someone slid onto his lap he looked in surprised as the other twin was there. He also couldn't help but look down at her bare chest either.

"Now don't worry, there's two of us and we have all night." Miu whispered into his ear making the boy's face all red. The party got a bit more interesting in the next hour with the twin girls there and they made sure to go around and give every man there some of their time. Some enjoyed it more than others, and for the younger ones they got memories that they would never forget.

"J-Jiraiya-sama!" Gai said appalled at all the things that the women had been doing. "How can you subject them to such unyouthful things?"

"What are you talking about?" Jiraiya asked bored as he took a shot of sake. "When I was a kid I would have loved this. Hell I still love it, isn't the spirit of youth supposed to be about living life to the fullest and going out there with no worries or inhibitions?"

"There is also decency." Gai countered.

"That's over rated," Jiraiya waved it off.

"G-gai sensei, I am not sure what to think." A slightly shaken Lee said as he walked up to both adults. Although he knew he should be 'youthful' he wasn't sure about the things he thought and felt with the two older women in the room as they were. Although he had to admit both women were very beautiful and very attractive.

"Kid when you became a ninja you became an adult so time to enjoy all the perks." Jiraiya handed the boy a drink. "Here try this and enjoy the 'youthfulness' of being an adult."

"Well...if you say so," Lee guessed that a man like the legendary Jiraiya would know what he was talking about so he quickly took a sip.

"Lee don't!" Gait was too late, Lee took his sip and that's when all hell broke loose.

**-Temari's Party-**

Temari was having her own little party at her house. That is after what the boys did after 'kidnapping' her future husband. She had to admit it had been a little funny seeing him shouting at them like that as they carried him off. Now she was in a room with all of the female girls, the new one that took her place on her old team, plus a few adults. Tsunade was there with Shizune in tow, the younger woman trying to make Tsunade ease up on the drinking. The Hokage had surprised Temari by bringing in bottles of sake for tonight.

Kurenai who was Hinata's teacher showed up, apparently she was here to make chaperone Hinata for her father. Plus a woman named Anko came with the genjutsu user, a friend of the red eyed woman who apparently didn't want to be left out of a party. Temari remembered the woman from the chunin exams. She reminded Temari almost of a female Naruto in a way the older woman acted. She didn't mind, it wasn't like Temari had many female friends anyway and anyway the woman seemed amusing.

She had also invited Ayame the ramen girl to show up, it was odd seeing the slightly older girl in something other than the work clothing at the ramen stand. She was in a blue dress skirt and matching top.

So far the party was then talking and of course the topic eventually turned to Naruto. Temari was learning all kinds of stories about her husband that she had never heard of before. Sakura talked about the Wave Mission and a few things that had happened in the chunin exam and other times. She even told of the first prank he pulled on Kakashi for being late to the classroom to pick them up. Anko seemed to laugh a little more at that one than most for some reason.

"Naruto has always been a very interesting person," Kurenai supplied taking a small drink. "Although I have not known him long I have heard things."

"Most of them true I bet," Tsunade snickered as she took yet another full drink down. She was already a little tipsy but not fully drunk, yet at least. "Although I do amid that he's a good kid, so you better not do anything to harm the boy Temari or I will take it personally."

"I don't plan on it, he is a good person. After all he beat my brother and actually changed him for the better, I own him more than anyone else just for that alone." Temari said honestly.

Tsunade nodded, "Yeah the brat has a way of changing people for the better. Hell he got me off my ass to come back here."

"Plus he's fun to mess with," Anko chuckled. "His blood tasted nice though."

"I hope you're not planning to damage my husband like that again," Temari warned her. She remembered that day when this woman cut Naruto's cheek with a kunai and licked the blood off his face.

"Don't worry I got something better to keep me occupied lately," Anko said holding up her hands. Then she got on a smirk on her face. "So tell me, how is the boy? And I mean the really juicy stuff, he a good kisser, good with his hands, good in bed or are you two waiting for the wedding night for that one?"

That got a round of blushes from most of the women present.

"Anko you shouldn't say things like that!" Shizune said at the slightly younger woman. Naruto was like a kid brother to her and she really didn't need to hear about that kind of thing.

"Well from what Temari said he's a good kisser who can give killer foot and shoulder rubs," Ino grinned remembering that conversation they had.

"Shoulder rubs?" Tsunade asked as she thought of what Jiraiya could do with his hands. Had he been giving Naruto hints on what to do with Temari? He looked at the girl who was trying hard not to blush. Damn, the boy must be good seeing the smile that was trying to hide itself on Temari's face.

"Anyways how about we get to the gifts?" Sakura said her face looking a lot like her hair at the moment. Thinking of her team mates in their more intimate moments was a little much for her young mind at the moment.

"Now you're talking," Temari said thankful for the change in topic.

So she started to open up gifts. One of a photo album for all future memories, she was looking forward to filling it. Matsuri got her some much needed things from Suna, mainly a collection of ointments and other things that she couldn't get here. Already the young girl was moving up in her books. The other girls gave her the usual stuff but it wasn't until she got to a box that Anko apparently got her that was when things got more interesting.

Temari pulled open the box and blinked, then she blushed as she pulled out a long black nighty that looked like it had no back and went to her thighs.

A couple of girls chocked on their drinks at that.

"Hope you have a good use for it on your special night," Anko said with a smirk. "I had to guess your size also there is a little extra in there."

Temari pulled out a pair of handcuffs and blushed even more, "What the hell am I supposed to do with these!?"

"I think rope is more her style," Tsunade slurred as the drinks were started to catch up to her. "Although I think she can pull off the dominatrix look if she got some black leather and a whip."

"Yeah but who owns a whip?" Anko asked as it wasn't exactly a normal weapon people sold. Then she noticed a slight blush on Tenten's face. "Oh is the little weapons girl into the kinky stuff? Didn't know you had it in you kid."

Everyone looked to a very embarrassed Tenten, and she felt very embarrassed because her idol was in the room. "I only have one and it's a weapon, it's not for…for that kind of stuff!"

"Oh really?" Ino smirked. "Somehow I can see your team mate Lee being into that whole stuff with how insane he trains with your sensei. Then again there is Neji, he's no Sasuke-kun but he's nice eye candy." The blonde girl giggled.

"E-eye candy!?" This came from both Tenten and Hinata.

"I-Ino!" Hinata said shocked that her friend would say such a thing about her cousin. She thought of him like an older brother.

"I'm just kidding," Ino said to the Hyuga heiress.

Temari thankful for the spotlight being pulled off her quickly put that present away. She really hoped that the guys weren't embarrassing Naruto this much.

**-A bit Later-**

Temari was cleaning up wishing she knew the shadow clone jutsu in order to get this done faster. She made a mental note to get Naruto to teach her it at some point. That's when her future husband came walking in, his clothing was ripped and ruffled and he had a bruise on his face.

"What the hell happened!?" Temari asked looking at him.

"Lee..." Naruto said in a tired tone. "At the wedding party don't let him near anything alcoholic."

"Lee did this?" Temari blinked and then thought about it. That guy was like a hurricane when in battle but why would he just go off like that. She asked and Naruto explained what Gai told them about Lee, he then went into the explanation of how long it took to get him knocked out and how much damage that Jiraiya had to pay for.

"Thankfully I should be healed up by morning but I just want to go to bed," Naruto said as he slowly made for his room. He suddenly stopped as he felt his jacket was caught on something, then he looked to see Temari giving him a level look as she held on.

"Naruto..." She said slowly. "Why do you smell like perfume?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he forgot how close the twins got to him. He sniffed his jacket and it was covered in it. He knew he was dead at this moment he was sweating bullets now as he tried to think of something to explain it all. He couldn't say one of the girls met up with him, they wouldn't say that if she asked later. Plus what if she thought that he was cheating on her, he felt her grip tighten and he knew that she was losing patience.

So he did what anyone would do, he broke.

"It wasn't my fault! Ero-sennin brought these ladies to the party, then he they started to take each others clothing off, then they were sitting on me and wanted me to touch them but I couldn't and told them I didn't want to, so they left me alone and soon after that's when Lee started to drink!"

"So...you had two naked women on you?" Temari said in a neutral tone.

"Not really naked...mostly naked. But I didn't do anything, I told them I couldn't because I was marrying you and I didn't want to betray you and-" he was silenced when she placed a finger on his lips.

"Okay I believe you."

Naruto blinked, "You do?"

"Yes because I trust you," then she leaned down and gave him a scary look. "And because I know that you know what I would do to you if I find out you're lying to me."

Naruto nodded really quickly.

"Good," Temari sighed and smiled at him as she went to get her fan. "Now go on the bed we have a big day."

"Uh...what are you doing?"

"Oh that's easy," She said in a happy tone. "I'm going to hunt down a certain white haired pervert and kill him."

**Next up Chapter 19: The Big Day**


	19. The Big Day

**AN: I like to thank Kaliann for info on Japanese weddings.**

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 19: The Big Day**

**-Hokage Tower-**

Naruto was nervous, although he wasn't sure why. Technically things wouldn't really be any different, they would still be living together, hey would just be…husband and wife now. Okay so maybe that was what was making him feel so stressed. There was just this huge, finality for it all. He had been getting used to the idea of being married with her, and in all honesty, he was enjoying his life with her lately. Being a husband was totally unknown territory for him.

Was he supposed to act differently, or was there more to being a husband then what he was doing now? Plus came the thought of kids, he had no idea if he could be a father, and what if things went wrong with the marriage? He had seen couples on the street before that looked like they hated each other. Okay, so he and Temari had their ups and downs but nothing serious at least.

But what if things changed?

He actually liked Temari now, she was really pretty, smart, talented as well. She helped him to be a better ninja too. He liked waking up in the morning to see her, eating with her, talking with her. His life had been pretty empty at home before now. He didn't want to go back to the emptiness again.

"Hey Naruto are you okay?" Iruka asked him as he helped Naruto into his wedding kimono. They were currently in one of the office rooms as they got ready. Everyone else was either in another room or already seated up on the roof. Iruka himself was in a basic black kimono as he helped put the final touches on Naruto's garb.

Naruto was wearing a more traditional tuxedo kimono, although it had the standard black, the under shirt he picked out was orange. He had been pretty instant about that, a few people tried to talk him out of it, even Temari had asked him but this was something he wouldn't budge on. This was his big day too and he would wear his favourite color no matter what. He also was given the traditional knife to be worn in the sash on his waist.

That had been given to him by Kakashi on the bachelor party as a gift, apparently he had it made special for him. Naruto had seen the Uzumaki swirl on the hilt, which was orange as well. It had been one of the coolest things he got last night. Thankfully he was fully healed by morning, the others not so much he bet.

"Iruka-sensei, I'm a little…well scared."

"Oh that's natural Naruto," Iruka said to him with a kind smile.

A knock was heard as Jiraiya put his head into the room, "So how are things going in here?"

"He's a little nervous," Iruka said to him although he had lost a bit of the image he had in his head about the legendary old man. Apparently you should never meet your heroes.

Jiraiya limped into the room a bit.

"Hey, what happened to your leg Ero-sennin?"

"Ask that soon to be wife of yours," He muttered to himself. "So what's there to be worried about kid? You're getting yourself a fine woman there, beautiful, intelligent, hell I bet there are a few envious males around. So what's to be nervous about?"

"What if I screw things up? I mean I know I'm not the smartest guy, and I tend to get into trouble..."

"True, plus you're loud, messy, a little thick and rude."

"Gee, thanks." Naruto said deadpanned.

"But the thing is that I can tell that girl is crazy for you," Jiraiya told him, and he had the bruises to prove it. "Now I'm not going to lie to you, a marriage won't be easy like any relationship. There will be ups and downs but trust me I get the feeling you two will work out fine. Just as long as you are there for each other."

"You think so?" Naruto asked a little hopeful.

"Hey have I ever let you down before?" Jiraiya smirked and then noticed the scowl on the younger boy. "Oh come on, name one time?"

"You threw me off a cliff, you took all my money and never paid me back, you show me something and instead of sticking around to help, you go off to peek at women while not giving me any tips or help with training."

"I said one thing!"

In another room Temari was getting the final touches on her own gown with Shizune and Sakura helping her out. Temari was just as, if not more nervous as Naruto. She had on a white kimono that had a red obi belt, she had placed the two fans Naruto had given her in them. It felt right to use those fans for this day, plus her usual battle fan was a bit impractical at the moment. There were golden flowers on the lower part of her dress.

The veil was off to the side as the girls place the makeup on her face.

"Temari stop moving," Sakura told her, "this isn't easy if you keep moving."

"Sorry," Temari had a very hard time sitting still. She knew this day had been coming for awhile now but now that it was here. She couldn't remember being this nervous in her life, and she didn't know why.

"You know it's okay to be nervous," Shizune said to the younger woman.

"I'm not nervous!"

Shizune only game a small knowing smile, "It's only natural for you to be, although I don't see why. Naruto-kun, likes you that much everyone can see. Plus, you seem to like him."

Temari blushed a bit at having her feelings for Naruto pointed out in the open like that. "It's not that...what if I screw this marriage up? I mean it's not like my parents were good examples."

"You never talk about your parents," Sakura said realising this.

"There's a reason for it," Temari sighed. "There was no love in that marriage or if there was, then it left long before I could remember. I just don't want this, to turn into that. I mean, I know I have my faults. I can be bossy, stubborn and short tempered."

"Sounds a bit like Naruto already." Sakura said to her. Temari gave her a dirty look but Shizune only laughed a little.

"Naruto-kun is a little like that," Shizune told her. "But I wouldn't worry too much. He adores you and he has a big heart. I can't really see him being mad for long with anyone, without good reason that is. But as long as you both try to work things through it should be fine."

"I hope you're right," Temari sighed.

**-Hokage Tower, Top Level-**

Everyone was sitting themselves down waiting for the wedding to start off. Kurenai and Asuma were there as they watched over their teams. Everyone was in formal dress for this, and they could see many important faces. The major clans were here, the parents of the children too, council members of both Konoha and Suna. It seemed that everyone who was anyone was here. Asuma also caught the ANBU guard among them as well, or at least a couple of the lesser skilled ones. He knew that there had to be a lot of security for this day.

Also Asuma wished he was in better form, Lee got in a lucky shot and his ribs still hurt like hell on the side. He really should talk to Gai about the kind of training he was putting that kid through to punch like that.

"Are you alright?" Kurenai asked seeing his discomfort.

"I'll be fine, besides I don't think anyone got out of that place without some kind of injury. That boy is scary when drunk."

Kurenai chuckled as she couldn't believe a young boy like that had been so bad with just one drink in him. Then again looking at Kiba with s bruised lip and Shino limping a bit she just might believe it. Then she saw two people entering and it got all her attention. It wasn't that it was just two people, it was because of who those two people were. In walked in both Anko and Kakashi, together it would seem.

"Are they together?" Kurenai asked as she pointed it out to Asuma. He was just as surprised as she was, Kakashi had never said anything about seeing Anko of all people.

"I can't believe you nearly made us late," Anko said to Kakashi a little annoyed with him. "Actually maybe I should have expected this, given how late you usually arrive."

"You don't usually say I'm late, I thought we usually 'arrive' roughly at the same time?" That earned him a light elbow to the ribs.

"Not that you perv," she smirked. "Why can't you be like that all the time and not just in bed?"

Kakashi just shrugged, "I can't read in bed usually."

"Can't believe you read that thing that one night," Anko muttered.

"You didn't seem to mind when I read it out loud," Kakashi chuckled. "In fact you seemed to get a little more frisky after I got to the good parts."

"Like how 'frisky' you were when you found me last night, what the hell happened last night anyway? You found me, and you were all ready to go at it but you were also bruised up." She asked him. Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the back of his head as he told her exactly what happened. Anko ended up laughing her ass off suddenly a few minutes later.

-**Later-**

Naruto was waiting at the altar that had been set up. Iruka was with him, and Tsunade was at the altar in her white Hokage robes. Konohamaru was waiting next to Iruka with the wedding rings grinning like mad to be a part of this. Naruto was a little nervous as everyone waiting for the ceremony to start off. He felt a little better about this but this was a huge day for him. Today he would have a wife and be a part of something. He was scared, happy, nervous, and worried all in one. His stomach hadn't felt like this since the last time he drank spoiled milk.

He grinned to himself as that had been a very long time ago. That was one of the many little things that Temari did for him. She always made sure that the food they had was never spoiled. He also liked having someone that would cook for him, help him clean and share in the chores. It was nice to have someone share his life he started to realise. Just when he was starting to think more on it, the music started.

It was a wind flute and drum beat as everyone looked to the stairs. Up came Moegi first as she sprinkled flower pedals. Then came Sakura walking up and then a figure in white was seen. Naruto couldn't stop staring as Temari made her way towards him. She was being walked to the altar by Baki as he was the closest thing to a father figure she had. He hadn't seen her in the wedding dress yet but she looked amazing to him. He was captivated by how it could show off a hint of her figure but Temari had a grace about her. He wished he could see through the veil she had on.

Soon both of them knelt by the altar.

When everyone was in position Tsunade was ready to start the ceremony. She started off with a prayer to the spirits to watch over, protect and to bless this union. After she got through the long and boring part she got to her own part of the ceremony.

"We are gathered here today to witness not only the bonding between two souls, but between our villages." Tsunade said to the crowd. "In front of all here, we are to witness this union. The couple have decided to make their own vows."

Naruto felt a little nervous speaking in front of everyone, but he looked at Temari. She looked beautiful from what he could make out and suddenly nothing really mattered. He wasn't sure what to do for vows, he had written so many things but they ended up as scraps of paper on the floor of the room. So he thought he would just say what he felt.

"Temari-chan," Naruto said with a slight pause. "I wasn't sure how things were going to work out between us when we first were put together. I didn't know you at all and I was worried we wouldn't work out very well."

"But then I got to know you, I saw the side of you that I know you try to hide from the world. I've seen you're softer and caring side, I've seen how smart and talented you are too. You've been helping me become a better ninja and a better person. I know I have a lot to learn in life, but I'm glad that I won't do it alone."

"I'm glad that you'll be by my side and you can count on me being by your side as well. I want us to be happy together and to have the kind of family that we both wanted growing up. If there is anyone in the world that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, then I'm glad it's you. You're one of my most precious people and I promise to care for you, protect you for life."

Temari felt the sting of tears in her eyes threatening to show up. She did her best to not cry but it was hard. She knew that Naruto meant every single word of it and it touched her.

"Naruto, you're always surprising." Temari said softly to him. "Always unpredictable and I'm glad for it. You've helped to bring joy and happiness into my life. You did so much for me and my family, because of you I'm closer to my brothers than ever. I've seen that deep down you're a wonderful person. You're the most caring and warm man in the world. It's my honour to be your wife."

Tsunade smirked as she watched the two youngsters. She poured the sake in a few small cups on the altar and gave them to the bride and groom. Naruto was a little hesitant, but he took a breath and gulped it down. He did his best to hold it down as well he really didn't like alcohol all that much. Temari faired better than that, although she wasn't used to it.

"The rings then." The Hokage said and Konohamaru came up with the rings. Naruto took it and slipped it onto Temari's finger. He said a short vow to her and soon Temari did the same.

"Let these rings symbolise the bond between the two of you." Tsunade sighed as it was finally over. Although it was Naruto's wedding she just didn't like being all 'official' like this. "Now kiss the bridge and you two are married."

Temari lifted her veil and Naruto was surprised by how she looked, with the red lips and the eye liner she looked ever more exotic to him. He felt his heard racing at the image before him, slowly he leaned forward and she mirrored him as they kissed in front of everyone. There were celebrations as people applauded or shouted out. Naruto and Temari pulled away as they could only smile at the other, they were now officially husband and wife.

After the crowd died down, the reception was in full force. People brought up tables and moved the chairs around as food was brought up. As this was being set up, people came up to congratulate the new couple.

"So how's it feel to be married man?" Kiba asked Naruto.

He grinned happily as he rubbed the back of his head, "Weird but in a good way."

"I just can't get over you're the first to be married," Ino sighed as she got s dreamy look on her face. "I can't wait for my own wedding."

"I pity the poor man already," Shikamaru sighed.

"What was that?" Ino said angrily to him giving him a death glare.

As the party went on as people started to dance as the music was playing, others talked amongst themselves and all in all it was a pretty good celebration. There was a little tension between some of the guests, mainly due to the fact that that scars of the invasion could still be seen in the village. Yet another reason why Tsunade had guards hidden all over the place, as an assassination on any Suna member would have ruined everything.

"Hey you want to dance Temari-chan?" Naruto asked seeing everyone starting to get on the dance floor.

"Sure." Temari said taking his hand.

"Wait, since when do you dance?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Temari-chan has been teaching me," Naruto said a little embarrassed. When he had heard there was dancing at this type of thing he had been worried. He told Temari about it and she took it upon herself to teach him. After all if he was going to be Hokage someone had to teach him all the things he would need to know.

"This I have to see," Sakura smiled as she stood right there to enjoy the show.

Naruto was a little nervous; he remembered how he had stepped on her feet a lot at the start. He got better but this was in public. He felt her put his hands into position and he looked up, she was smiling at him and gave him a small nod of confidence. He felt a bit better as he slowly started to lead. It was a little slow going and a bit awkward. She was taller than him of course, but soon he started to get more confident. He may not have been the best but he could at least go with the flow of the music.

Many of his friends actually stopped to watch them, although he didn't notice. He was too busy looking at Temari, she looked great this day and it was strange. Before he had been so against this, but now, now he felt like this was where he wanted to be in life.

. Hinata was sitting down at a table as she watched everyone, she wasn't really the type to mingle. Her father was doing plenty of that anyway. Although it had been some time since she first heard that Naruto would be married it wasn't until this moment that she knew he would never be hers. It was something that she had been trying to come to terms with and now it was truly sinking in.

She looked to see Naruto and Temari together and despite everything, she just couldn't hate the girl. She made Naruto happy and that was all she really wanted him to be. She had seen him struggle all his life and it was good to see him finally getting what he deserved in life.

But she wasn't the only person noticing things, her own team mate Kiba had noticed her sitting all alone. She looked a little down and he was wondering why. Well he was going over there to make her feel better, she was his team mate and good friend after all.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba said as he arrived next to her.

She jumped in surprise at his arrival, "Oh! Kiba-kun, I'm sorry I didn't notice you."

"That's okay, so why do you look so down?" He asked her only to see her shifting a little nervously. He looked to see the dancing and he thought that she was feeling left out. He knew that she was shy, maybe hoping to be asked to dance. Well he didn't like to see her down so he might as well go and cheer her up.

"Hey you want to dance?" He asked her with a friendly smile.

Hinata sat there shocked did she just hear him right? She did admit that a part of her wanted to join in, but was he asking her as a friend or something more? Isn't that what people who liked someone else did, they asked another person to dance, maybe she was just reading too much into it. Hinata must have taken a little too long to answer as she found him grabbing one of her hands. He gently pulled her up to her feet and led her to the dance floor. She blushed as he gently pulled them into a slow dance.

She was nervous at first but soon got in step with him, she was actually very surprised. Kiba was a good dancer.

"Kiba-kun, where did you learn to do this?"

Kiba blushed himself as he told her in a low voice, "Don't tell anyone okay? My mom and sister thought that I should know and both taught me." Hinata giggled at the mental image as he scowled at her. "Hey, it's not that funny."

"Sorry, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," He sighed.

Temari and Naruto were already on their third dance for the night when she noticed Gaara and Matsuri were standing close by each other, but nothing else. She mentally sighed, the girl kept stealing glances at him, but she was too nervous to act. Plus Gaara she doubted noticed or if he did, knew why she did it. She sighed seeing that, she knew that with Gaara's past, the odds of him finding any girl that could like him was pretty low. Too many of their generation were afraid of him.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked seeing her worried look.

"Just watching something a bit painful," she motioned with her head towards the two.

Naruto looked over a little and was confused, but he soon remembered that the girl was supposed to like Gaara. And given the way she kept stealing looks he could see she did, hell he used to do that do Sakura in class all the time –not that is got him anywhere- but still a plan was forming.

"Hey Temari-chan, I think I have an idea but make sure Gaara doesn't do anything to me okay?"

Temari looked at him confused until he explained his plan, it could be risky but it could also be a bit of fun.

Matsuri was nervous to say the least, she was in a foreign village for the first time in her life. Although it seemed like a nice place, she couldn't help but notice the damaged sections of the city. She felt sad that her people had done some of that. They were at times a hard people, but they were honourable. But that was one of the reasons for having this marriage in the first place, to heal the wounds of that day. She also couldn't stop glancing at Gaara, he was wearing more formal Suna clothing. It was all brown and had a little red here and there, it was very nice looking and he looked handsome in it.

Ever since that day he saved her she felt more than just appreciation. But she was just a rookie, she wasn't that skilled yet, so how was she to ask him to dance? She watched all the people dancing and she wished she could do it too, it looked like fun. She sighed softly to herself resigned to sit on the side lines, casting little glances at her secret crush.

"Hey Matsuri."

The girl jumped at being addressed and found herself facing Naruto Uzumaki.

"Oh! Hello Naruto-san, and congratulations."

Naruto smiled to her, "Thanks, hey you want to dance? Temari-chan is taking a break and I still want to dance but I need a partner."

"M-me!?" Matsuri wasn't sure what to say. She would like Gaara to have asked her but he didn't seem to want to dance. Plus Naruto did seem like a nice person, although before she could say anything he took her hand and led her to the dance area. She blushed a bit at the close contact but he seemed to be a gentleman about placing his hands. Truth be told, she had never been this close to a boy before.

This didn't go unnoticed as Gaara watched Naruto take Matsuri away to dance. He watched with that blank look on his face but his eyes were strangely focused on the two of them. He watched as Naruto and Matsuri started out, he said something and she smiled and then laughed a bit. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and Gaara was feeling slightly, annoyed because of it.

He didn't see why he would be, after all they were both his friends, something he had little of in life. They were having a good time, so why wasn't he happy for that? Ever since he had started to open up, he found new feelings creeping up on him. Sometimes they were pleasant, other times they weren't, sometimes he was so confused by what he felt he got frustrated with them.

"Hey there little brother," Temari said as she walked up to him, "Why don't we share a dance?"

Gaara looked at her for a moment before speaking, "I'm not sure I can."

"Sure it is, it's easy. Hell if I can teach Naruto so well I think I can do the same for you. Please? I want to be able to dance with my brothers just once at my own wedding." She told him gently.

Gaara knew how important this day was for his big sister, maybe he could at least try for her sake. "What do I do?"

Temari got him into position and gently started to lead him into the dance, it wasn't easy but Gaara was a fast learner. She also couldn't help but notice that his eyes always strayed to Matsuri and she had to hold off on her grin. Maybe Gaara did feel something under all that sand of his.

"If you want to dance that bad with her you can just ask you know."

Gaara cast his eyes to her, almost like he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Gaara, you've been staring at them for awhile now. I don't know what's going on but if you really would like to dance, just go over then and cut in. Besides I think I'd like to get my husband back for the next dance."

Gaara mulled things over, he couldn't be certain but he felt something was going on here. But then there were these strange feelings he got. He never felt anything like it before, when he saw her laugh and smile it felt, like there was a glimmer of light. But when he saw that it was Naruto making her smile, he felt this hot feeling in his chest. It wasn't like anger or rage, but it felt similar to those.

While he was thinking, Temari was gently moving them over to the couple. She caught Naruto's eye and gave him a small nod. He gave a small smile as he moved himself and Matsuri towards them. It wasn't long until Naruto 'accidentally' bumped into Temari.

"Ah Temari-chan there you are," Naruto said smiling up at her. "I thought you wanted to take a break, are you ready for another dance?"

"Well if Gaara doesn't mind?" She looked at her little brother how just shrugged. So she took Matsuri's place, with said girl looking a little uncomfortable. "Although I hate to leave Matsuri without a partner. Gaara, do me a favour and at least keep her company until the dance ends will you?"

The newly weds were already on their way away from them, before either of them could say anything. Matsuri was blushing as she was left alone with Gaara. She didn't think he would want to dance with her, so she turned to tell him that she was find. She never even got to open her mouth to say a word, she just was stunned when he saw the sight before her. There was Gaara simply holding out his hand to her. Her whole face went red as she shyly took his hand, when he moved closer she was certain she was inventing new shades of red with her face.

"Are you alright?" Gaara asked her. "You seem too warm."

"I-I'm fine," She said as she tried to force her blush down, but it was hard. She was dancing with her crush in such a way that she could have only dreamt of.

Meanwhile Temari and Naruto were watching the scene with matching grins. "I hope this breaks the ice between them." Temari said.

"Sure it will, this is my brilliant plan remember?"

Temari gave a soft smile, "Well you do come up with the most interesting plans." Naruto just grinned his fox like grin at her as they danced on.

"Hey you mind if I steal you're husband for a dance?" Sakura's voice said to the couple.

Temari smiled at the younger girl, "Sure but I want him back intact."

"Only if he behaves." Sakura smiled back to her.

"Hey, I'm standing right here you know!" Naruto pouted making the two girls giggle as Sakura led her friend a few feet away. Naruto had to admit there had been times when he wished he could have gotten this close to her. But those were the thoughts of a deep crush, an unrequited crush. But things had been going well between them. They were closer, but more as friends than anything which to Naruto was just fine.

Sakura was surprised by how well Naruto was doing, "You're not bad at this."

"Temari-chan is a great teacher, although I thought you'd be with Sasuke-teme or did Ino beat you to it?"

Sakura got a scowl on her face. "I could have if Ino-pig had let me have a chance, every time I went to ask she just had to ask at that point as well. Then we argued and then Sasuke-kun was already gone." She sighed then. "I wanted at least one dance with him for the wedding."

"Well its his loss," Naruto smiled at her. "Besides I think Lee was looking forward to a dance."

Sakura giggled, "How can he dance with a broken foot? What happened for him to get a broken foot anyway?"

"I think it was when he tried to kick the steel support beam or when Ero-sennin summoned a toad onto him to calm him down." Naruto through out loud. Then again that whole fight had been kind of a blur to him, things had happened to fast that he hadn't even noticed the start of the fight.

"What were you guys doing last night?" Sakura wondered, she had seen all the males sporting some kind of injury.

Naruto blushed a bit remembering the twins and thought better than to mention them. "It was just the normal kind of party, but then Ero-senin gave Lee some sake. Apparently Lee is a light weight and he gets really weird and dangerous when he drinks."

"Seriously?" Sakura's eye brows shot up at that. Although Lee was already kind of weird, the fact he could even more weird and dangerous on top of it, was fairly surprising to her. As they danced she had to admit that the moment was very nice.

"Hey Naruto, you're happy about how things turned out right?" She asked him.

He looked at her confused for a moment, "Yeah, I mean we have our arguments now and then but overall I'm really glad to have married her. I really am happy about all of this, I know I wasn't at first, but well things changed. Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I was just curious," She told him. Although on the inside she had hoped that things were good for him. She had been doing a lot of thinking with all the down time and personal training she had with Temari, as she talked with the older girl. She had slowly over time been seeing Naruto in a better light, not as the annoying prankster from school, but as a really good friend. She felt guilt for all the times she had been mean to him, so lately she had been slowly changing that.

She had learned just how important her team was to her, she knew she had been pretty bad in the past. The Forest of Death had been a wake up call for her, and she had started to grow both as a ninja and as a person. She just hoped that she could make it up to Naruto, by being a better friend to him for his life.

At the moment she was glad that he finally got some happiness in his life.

"Hello there Naruto," said an unfamiliar voice. Naruto turned to face a man with bandages over his body. He hadn't met the man but from the looks of him he knew that this was that Danzo guy he heard about. "I was wondering if I could get a moment of your time."

For some reason, Naruto doubted that was a request.

**Next up Chapter 20: Sword of Damocles**


	20. Sword of Damocles

**AN: sorry I had to take out the lemon in this scene because is cracking down on that stuff.**

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 20: Sword of Damocles**

"Hey Sakura-chan, you mind leaving us alone for a bit?" Naruto asked in a serious tone.

"Uh...sure, I'll go see someone of the others," Sakura said as she walked away. She didn't like how Naruto was looking at the man, she had never seen him before but she got a bad feeling about him. She went in search of Temari or someone, just in case.

"So, what do you want?" Naruto asked him crossing his arms.

"I see you are as ill mannered as people say," Danzo said in a neutral tone. He didn't really care how the boy spoke to him, although that defiant attitude of his was annoying at times. "I came to just talk."

"Temari-chan already told me what you talked to her about," Naruto said to the older man.

"Yes I'm sure she did," he agreed. "But at any rate I just wanted to put an offer on the table. After all I expect a great deal from the children you have. You are after all very 'unique' but you were never trained like most ninja."

"What do you mean like that?" Naruto asked confused now. "I went to the academy like everyone else."

"Yes and how many of your classmates do you think have had help from ninja in their family?"

Naruto paused at that, he hadn't really thought about it. With the exception of Sakura, she and he were the only ones that didn't have some kind of family member as a ninja to go to. Sakura being the first in her family to try and he, being an orphan, didn't have anyone.

"How often do you think they got special training from their families? To train in Justus used by their family or clans use, fighting styles or even simple help after school in their training?"

Naruto thought back to his own days, of training by himself after school. He tried so hard, but he had to train without anyone helping him. No one was there to correct his mistakes or give him hints on how to improve. That was one of the things that his training with Temari at home showed him, that he could have used that kind of help when he was younger.

Danzo saw the boy was thinking about his words, as he should. The boy had so much potential wasted because that old fool hadn't wanted to turn the boy into a weapon. All ninja were tools to the used, even he knew that he himself was like that when he was younger. But he had now become that hand that used the tool, as everyone who survives and gets into a position of power like he had done.

"You see I wanted to take you in and train you among my elite forces, I've trained some of the best ninja this village has seen and you would have been perfect. But the Third wanted you to live a normal life, that didn't work out so well did it?"

He could see that he hit a nerve, just like he intended.

Naruto felt a sting remembering how lonely he had been most of his life. Would have it been better if he had been taken in by Danzo? Would he have still been alone all his life, but then he wouldn't have met Iruka or all the others in his class. Even if he would have been trained better, he still wouldn't have given up all the times he had been taken out for meals by Iruka. The times he would skip class with Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji, sure there were bad times but there were still good ones.

"Well then Temari-chan and myself will train our kids then," Naruto said with a determined look. In fact now that he thought about it, he liked the idea. He could see a blond boy and girl with them training them for school. It gave him a nice warm feeling inside, he would give his kids the kind of attention he never had.

"I thought as much," Danzo simply said. "I merely wanted to open an option to you both. Since you both could be busy in the future. Who knows how much time you have for those types of things. But at any rate I felt that if you ever wanted to give them something like advanced training, then I could offer my services. That is all I ask, is that you only consider the option."

"Oh, why would I?" Naruto demanded. He really was getting a creepy vib off the guy, he made his skin crawl for some reason.

"Perhaps, because I was able to convince the elders of both villages to give you and Temari time to adapt." He told him honestly. "There were even the those that wanted you two to produce a child as soon a possible. I thought it would be best to give you both the time for it, as you are still too young for parenting."

"They wanted us to have kids already?" Naruto asked surprised.

Danzo nodded, "Yes but I knew it was a mistake. You two will have to produce a child eventually to prove the marriage oaths and the bond formed here. But I managed to convince them to give you both time."

"How much time?" Naruto had to ask if this was going to be hanging over their heads he wanted to know for how long they would be under pressure.

"Two years at least, beyond that I would highly suggest you talk about it with your wife," Danzo said to him. "Besides the village should be fixed by then and our ninja can take it a bit more easy with life." He told the boy as he looked over the village.

"Hn, almost makes you sound like you care about this village." Naruto muttered but Danzo heard it.

"Just because I never agreed with the philosophy of Hizuren Sarutobi, doesn't mean I don't care about this village. He had his way of doing things and I have mine. Where he thought to seek peace, I sought to ensure peace, where he showed mercy, I showed diligence. He defended us from enemies, while I attacked our enemies before they could harm us."

"I like his way better," Naruto said. Danzo's way seemed too cold for his tastes.

"Maybe, but did you know that he could have killed Orochimaru years ago?" He asked Naruto who looked up at him in surprise. "He showed mercy and weakness and look at the cost of that?"

He pointed to the ruined parts of the village, "So many of us died by his hands, he even lost his own life and yet Orochimaru still lives. I would not have hesitated to destroy our enemies and all of this wouldn't have happened. I believe that letting an enemy live will invite danger to our village and to our lives. We have many enemies in this world, as a great and powerful village that is a certainty."

Danzo looked at him with a steady look. "Can you stand to have our village destroyed by the weak morals of another? I may have respected him as a ninja but I don't agree with his methods."

Naruto stood there as he thought about all of that. He remembered how the Third would take him on walks and talk to him about what it was like to be a ninja. He learned to become what he was through the old Hokage, he looked up to him and he still did. But Danzo's words had a sliver of truth to them, if Sarutobi had killed Orochimaru then Sasuke wouldn't have gotten that mark on him, the village wouldn't have been attacked, with so many dead.

"Oh there you are," Temari's voice came as she linked her arm with Naruto. "Come on we were supposed to talk to the Hyugas."

He gave a confused look before he caught the eye he was giving Danzo. "Oh right, better not let him wait huh."

Without a word they left Danzo behind and Naruto was glad for it, he really didn't like that guy, especially after talking with him. "I'm glad you came."

"Thank Sakura, she's the one the found me and told me that guy was talking to you. What did he say?"

Naruto sighed he would rather not talk about it, this was their day and he didn't want to ruin things bringing up what they talked about. Truth was some of the things were making him think and he didn't like what they made him think about. There was some truth in what he said but in the end he felt that the Third was right to believe in what he believed. Naruto respected those that stuck by their nindo like he did.

"I'll tell you later," Naruto told her and she nodded accepting that.

"Oh by the way there was something I wanted to do," Naruto said as he took her through the party. He had nearly forgotten about it but now that he remembered, Naruto wanted to do something to forget Danzo for the time being. He was looking for someone in particular but it took a moment to find him with all the people here. "Ah there he is, hey Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya cringed at that and then sighed, only one person would yell that out. He turned to face Naruto and then he flinched as the sight of Temari. He really hoped she wasn't still mad at him.

"What are we doing with the old pervert?" Temari asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hey Ero-sennin, I've been meaning to ask. You're really good with seals right?" Naruto asked him ignoring Temari's tone.

"Kid do you know who you're talking to?" He asked the boy. "The only one better than me was the Fourth."

"Great, you think you can look at Gaara's seal?" Naruto asked him as Temari gave him a surprised look. "I mean he has some problems that I don't have, and maybe you can fix up his seal for him."

Jiraiya thought about it, he would have to take a look at the boy's seal to see what was done to him. He was sure that it wasn't even close to Naruto's as that was original and powerful. It might take a moment but seeing the hope filled eyes of Temari he thought maybe he could get in her good graces again. After all he didn't need his apprentice's wife angry at him.

"Tell you what, I'll take a look and see what I can do okay?"

"I knew you could do it Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya frowned, "Can't you just once not call me that?"

"If you can help my little brother maybe I can convince him to," Temari said to him. "At least maybe for one time."

Jiraiya sighed, it was better than nothing. Beside he liked a challenge and it might be fun to show off his skills. Now he just needed to find the boy, he scanned the area seeing the red headed boy with a cute little brunet. He grinned at the sight, he'd give them an hour and then find him. Maybe this could be used as a side story. He giggled perversely as he went looking for his note book.

**-Uzumaki home-**

Naruto and Temari made it home, it had been a very long day but it had been worth it. Temari felt a bit strange now that she was Temari Uzumaki but she had gotten used to the feel of it, it would just take time to remember to write that down in official documents. But now this was the start of a new life for her.

There was one more thing she had been thinking about, especially in the last few hours. In Suna a couple wasn't legally married until they consummated the marriage. To be honesty she was a little hesitant, it would be her first time and all that but honesty if there was someone she wanted to lose it to, it would be him. She thought about the missions they would go on, now that they were married, they would be sent on them. What if she or he got killed, or worse what if she was captured? The fates of female prisoners weren't exactly always a quick death.

'_To hell with it,'_ Temari thought to herself._ 'Either one of us could die and he's the best guy I know. I don't care about age or my own nerves. I do want this, today has been the best day of my life and I don't want it to end.'_

"Naruto," she smiled down at him, "After you change, will you meet me in my room?"

"Huh, what for?" He asked innocently.

She nearly laughed, he looked so innocent that it was very cute. She blushed a bit thinking on what she was planning. "Just wait for me, I have a surprise."

"Oh okay, sure thing!" he gave her that huge smile of his as he went upstairs. Naruto wasn't sure what was going on but at any rate he was still happy. Sure that talk with Danzo had been a sour note, and gave him some things to think on, but overall it had been a great day. He wished the Old Man could have been here for this day. He was the only one missing, his smile dropped a bit as he looked around his room. There on a shelf he had one of a few pictures that he owed. There he looked to of him when he was young with the Third Hokage.

He went to pick it up and sadly smiled at the picture. This was only one of two pictures he had of him. "Miss you Old Man, I bet you would have loved this day."

He put it away as he started to change.

In the bathroom Temari was already changing herself she was out of her wedding clothing and had washed away the makeup. She pulled her hair down as she knew that he liked it like that. She was currently wearing that black nightie that Anko had given her.

"Okay you can do this, nothing to be nervous about," She told herself. They were husband and wife now they can do this anytime they wanted. Although a bit of her was worried, what if she was bad, what if he was? What if she didn't like it or he didn't either? She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. She was good looking and she wanted this marriage to work. If they had problems, well they would just work them out.

Naruto made it into her room in his usual t-shit and boxers, so far she didn't seem to be in here. He scratched his head as he went in further. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, took me a little longer to get ready," Temari's voice called out behind him.

He smiled as he turned around, "Naw, that's okay. So what did...you...(gulp)."

There stood Temari in the most sexy looking thing he had ever seen. It was all black silk and hugged her body nicely. He could see her shapely legs and her hair was down as well. She had a small blush on her face as she walked towards him. He felt himself heating up as she got in front of him.

"Now that we're married I was hoping that we...we could be closer."

"C-Closer?"

"Y-yes, you know as married people do." Temari said to him.

Naruto looked at her and then where he was and it suddenly clicked. He blushed as he was thinking on the implications. Although as a healthy young male he had to admit he didn't mind it, he wanted to see what it was like. They were married after all, so it was okay right?

"You sure about this Temari-chan?" He asked.

She answered by kissing him, it was a long and loving kiss. Naruto closed his eyes as he felt his hands on her hips pulling her closer to him. He could feel her body pressed up against it and just how thing the fabric was. He felt more nervous than ever before but he also wanted this. She took his hand as she gently led him to the bed.

Temari laid herself on the bed as Naruto took a moment to look at her as he crawled up on top of her. He kissed her again like they had many times before. Both were pretty nervous after all this was their first night together as husband and wife. To say there was a lot of pressure was like saying Jiraiya was a pervert. But both young teens wanted this and they gently started out.

Eventually Naruto lightly touched her breasts through the thin material. He wasn't sure if he was doing this right as the last time he had gotten hit for it. Then again, he had it coming that time. He was gentle and noticed she was blushing.

"D-does that feel okay?" He asked nervously.

She nodded her head feeling hot and yet embarrassed, this was the first time she let a male touch her like this. It was exciting but also she wasn't sure what to do or expect. It did feel nice but it could be a little more hard.

"Just a bit harder so I can feel it." She told him and he did a bit too much. "Whoa! Not that hard!"

"Oops, sorry!" He went back not doing it as hard as he gently started to knead it.

"Yeah like that, that feels much better," Temari sighed as she ran her hands over his body. Eventually she wanted more and took the hem of his shirt and started to pull it off. Naruto blushed as she did this not sure if he had the kind of body that girl's liked. Temari did like it, it was pretty average but she could see where all the extra working out had started to make his body more defined.

He took the straps to her gown and slowly pulled them down, eventually he got her top to fall below her breasts.

The rest was a bit awkward for the both of them, neither had much experience and there was a lot of fumbling and hesitation. Temari knew it could be painful for a first time and there had been some but thankfully it wasn't as bad as she had feared. Although before things could get really started Naruto seemed to have stopped.

"Did, did you just..."

"Sorry," Naruto muttered.

"It's okay," she told him as they were a little awkward again. He pulled out and rested on the bed as there was a silence between them. "I think I'll go clean up." She got up totally naked as she went to the bathroom.

Naruto felt bad that he hadn't done too well. Jiraiya had warned him that first times aren't always that great. He sighed as he lay there, he wanted this to be special and he had a feeling that Temari wanted it to be special too. He saw that he needed to clean himself as well. Thankfully she had some tissues near by. When he was finished he swore that he wouldn't give up on making this a good night for them both.

Temari sighed as she cleaned the slight blood away when she was in the bathroom. It could have been worse she just wished she could have enjoyed it more. The start had been great but when it came to the actual act both of them kind of failed a bit. She sighed as she walked back to her room, she was surprised to see Naruto still there, she felt a bit bad for making him finish too fast.

She noticed the determined look on his face as he walked over to her. "What's with the face?"

As soon as he was close enough he pulled her down for another kiss, this time it was deep and passionate. She felt a hand on her side trailing up and another kneading her ass, she was surprised when she felt his tongue enter her mouth. By the time she broke the kiss she was a bit flustered. "N-Naruto what are you doing?"

"Making up for before," he simply said seriously as his mouth went to one of her breasts again. She gasped as she felt his mouth back on them.

"Y-you sure?" She asked as she was feeling herself getting warm again. His answer was to trail kisses over her body as he tried his best to make up for the previous attempt.

"Oh god," Temari moaned as her hips jerked to his face a bit as he hands lightly gripped his head. "W-where did you learn that?"

They continued on, only now he was taking his time and doing everything he could to make up for it. By the time they finished both were nearly out of breath as they lay there on the bed next to each other.

"How was that?" Naruto asked eventually.

"Oh that was much better, what about you?"

"Yeah it was a lot better," Naruto grinned as he gently trailed his hand on her spine. Even though they were all sweaty and stuff he felt very nice right now. Their warm nude bodies together like this, it just felt right in some way.. Then he grinned as he flipped her over and started to kiss her neck.

"W-what?" Temari could feel him getting hard again inside of her. Was that normal for a boy? It wasn't like she had any reference for it.

"I think more practice is needed," He chuckled to her.

Temari smiled as she wrapped her legs around him and found he could actually get a bit deeper with that. This was going to be a very fun night for the both of them.

**-Outside-**

Jiraiya could only giggle as he spied on them with his trusty telescope. He had been making plans to help that Gaara kid but when he noticed the time he had to wonder if Naruto would put those tips of his to good use. Plus it would make for a great scene in his book. Although spying on a girl that young wasn't his thing, he could appreciate the type of woman she was growing into. The boy was lucky with that one.

Crack.

He suddenly froze as the familiar feeling of dread came over him, there was only one thing that made that distinctive sound. He looked over nervously and could see Tsunade there glaring at him as she cracked another knuckle.

"You better have a very good excuse for this," she told him. She had a feeling he was going to try something like this, only it had taken her this long to find him. When the old spy wanted to stay hidden he was very good at it. But those perverted giggles of his was what alerted her to his location.

"I'm just making sure the boy's first time goes okay," he said quickly. "The boy came for some advice on women and I taught him what I could. I just was making sure he didn't have any problems and if he did see if I could find a way to help out."

Well that was partially true, he would help out the next day but she didn't need to know that.

"Oh really?" She asked not looking convinced. "What makes you think he could use the help of an old pervert like you?"

"Well the tips seem to work so far, plus you didn't seem to mind those little muscle relaxation sessions," He grinned at her.

Tsunade blushed a bit as she was reminded of that. "So you're teaching him your perverted techniques." She accused him. She shouldn't have been surprised after all she had known him for years and this was just his kind of thing. It was amazing that Minato had turned out so well adjusted, then again maybe his wife had been the one to straighten him out and undo all the damage.

"I'll have you know those techniques have been used in the advanced seduction teachings in this village and further more-oh wait I think they're starting up again." He said as he took a look. "That boy has a lot of energy and its about time he put it to good use."

Tsunade's eye twitched as she went a punch making the old pervert fly off. She grunted in frustration as she hoped he would get the point and not peep on people in their private moments.

**Next up Chapter 21: New Missions**


	21. New Missions

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 21: New Missions**

It had been a couple of weeks since the marriage and things were starting to get back to normal. Temari's family had left the day after the weeding and later Jiraiya had to leave to continue on his own work. He said he would swing by Suna and take a look at Gaara's seal for them when he got the chance. For the married couple things had only been calm for a few days before they had been given their first mission as a team. Apparently it had been one of those things that couldn't be avoided, as Kakashi needed to go for this mission and he couldn't leave them behind.

Turns out that they had gone all the way to Snow Country to shoot some movie, which the main star turned out to be the princess of that country, well she hadn't acted like a princess that was for sure. Temari and her had butted heads early on, but then it got even worse. They had been split up by these Snow Ninja and things had gone to hell at that point. Temari had been worried sick since Naruto had charged headlong and went to rescue their client. But in the end things turned out well, they found them and apparently Naruto must have knocked some sense into her.

Temari still remembered that final battle with the dictator of that land, how he used the rasengan and the rainbow of colors. She had never seen anything so beautiful or destructive.

They had returned a week ago and things were getting slow again. Truth was there was another thing that she and Naruto shared, they hated staying out of action for too long. So when they were told that they had a new mission both were glad for some more action. Although Temari always kept her joy inside with the exception of maybe a smile, Naruto was the opposite and literally jumped for joy. Soon Team 7 made their way to the Hokage's tower and her office.

"Hey Granny, what's the new mission?" Naruto asked as soon as they entered into the place.

Temari sighed in embarrassment no matter what she tried she just couldn't get him to stop saying things like that. So had pretty much given up trying and just hoped that Tsunade wasn't in a foul mood. She could see the one of the Hokage's eyes twitch a little in annoyance but she let it slid.

"I have a mission that I think Team 7 is perfect for, with the exception of Temari you all remember your mission to Wave correct?" The Hokage asked.

"Oh yeah, the drunk old bridge builder that lied about the mission and we ended up taking on a missing nin from Mist." Naruto spoke up.

Tsunade gave a small glare at the boy, "I wouldn't put it that way…but yes that's the one." She sat back as she passed the scroll to Kakashi. "Apparently some leftovers from Gato's organization are starting up trouble again. And the village asked for help, specifically Team 7. They're hoping that just you being there will make these rogues rethink harming the town again."

"Hmm, seems easy enough. Then again so did the original mission," Kakashi sighed as he looked over the mission scroll. Nothing much was said, although the price being paid for was at least a B rank mission. It was hard to say if Gato's people had hired any mercenaries or ninja but he wouldn't put it past them. Before he had been killed, Gato had squeezed a lot of money out of the town, if his people had access to his wealth there was no telling what they would have paid for.

"Well this will be great," Sakura said happily. "I mean I've been wondering how they were doing since the bridge had been finished. I hope the town has turned around. Man, it seems like almost a life time ago when we were there but it's only been like six months."

"Yeah a lot has happened huh?" Naruto smiled as he looked at Temari who gave a small smile back.

"Well this should be interesting then," Kakashi smiled as he tucked the scroll away. "Well, we'll get ready and leave in a few hours."

"Alright and Naruto try to stay out of trouble," Tsunade told him. "I read the report on the Snow Country mission, remember that you and Temari are important symbols for the village so try not to get yourself killed so early." Although it was just her being Hokage, she really was worried for the boy. He was around the same age as her little brother had been when he had been killed. The last thing she wanted was to loose him, plus she bet Temari would be just as hurt.

She had seen the way she looked at him when she thought no one was looking. Tsunade could see the bond there between them. She would hate to see it broken one day.

"Aw you worry too much," Naruto told her just brushing it off. "Besides I can't die yet, I still haven't become Hokage and you can bet that nothing will keep me from being the next Hokage!"

Despite everything she smiled at that, Tsunade could see him as one day being Hokage. He just needed the time to grow into the man she knew he could be. It was times like this, she realized what Jiraiya must have seen in Naruto from day one.

**-Sound Base-**

Deep in one of the many secret bases of Orochimaru, the snake Sannin was currently taking the bandages off his new face. So far the transfer had gone well but now it was time for the final touches, to put his original face back on. He applied the fake skin easily enough and soon he was staring back into his pale face once more.

"Ah, I never get tired of this part. Like a snake shedding its skin." He chuckled to himself.

He was currently in one of his private chambers, but honestly they all looked alike. They held only basic things as he never really needed anything without some kind of function. There were books for his research, a table for certain experiments and some candles that gave off some low light. That was mainly for others as over the years he had developed his eyes to have great night vision.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto bowed as he entered the room. He was the only one allowed to just enter whenever he felt like it, mainly because he only entered when summoned or had something to report. He knew his place and that was rare to find these days.

"Yes?"

"Sir, spies have reported that Team 7 is back on the move again." Kabuto had been given the message only an hour ago. Long ago, Orochimaru had set up his own spy network. After all a man like him had to keep eyes on everyone with all the enemies he had, and all the plans he had to make.

This was just another such example, he had been a careful watch on Team 7, mainly a certain member of the team. Since the boy had been gone too long he couldn't use his body but maybe that was for the best. If he could shape and mould the boy he might make for a better host. But he would have to have the boy come to him willingly. He had a long time to think and plan on this, he had a few ideas but the main one was to offer the boy everything he desired. And there was someone that would be able to help with that.

"Kabuto send to Tayuya, I have a mission for her." He said as Kabuto bowed and left. She would be perfect for the his plans. Her past would help the boy trust her and even the two might empathise with each other if they stayed in contact long enough. He had studied not just the physical side to humans but what made them tick. Once you understood how a person worked you could twist them and manipulate them to your own ends.

Everyone had a weakness, such as Tsunade's love for her dead brother and lover. But he hadn't counted on their old teammate and that annoying little blonde boy. At any rate he had a new body now, but he just needed to bring Sasuke to his side. He had failed with Itachi, the man was just too good but those eyes were magnificent. He still remembered watching a young Itachi do things that even adult jonin wouldn't have tried. When he had joined Akatsuki, it had been to gain more information and knowledge. Then the day when Itachi joined had been such a fortunately day, at least he had originally thought it. He had tried to sneak up behind him and poison him long enough to take his body, but Itachi had put him in a genjustu even before he had known.

Those eyes were powerful, anyone who had them could reach heights that no other could. It was no wonder the name Uchiha had been feared for generations by other nations. But with Sasuke things were different the boy wasn't as strong as Itachi so it would be easier to take his body. But now that he had to wait three years before he could do it again, Orochimaru figured why not improve the boy some more. If he was going to take his body, then Orochimaru might as well make it the best body to have.

It might even last longer then the three years an average body lasted, oh the things he would learn in just one year with a sharingan, all the forbidden techniques that he alone would master. Maybe even figure out a way to give himself true immortality, there were limits to the resurrection technique but he hoped to one day find a way to overcome them.

"You called for me Orochimaru-sama?" Tayuya said as she entered the small room with a bow.

He grinned at the young girl, "Yes I have a mission that only you can do."

"What is it Orochimaru-sama?" She asked standing a bit taller. The fact that she personally was being given this mission was a very big deal to her. Even though she was part of his personal guard, there was always room to grow in Sound.

"I want you to follow Team 7, do not be seen unless it's unavoidable. You are to ensure that Sasuke is not harmed in any way and to study him. I want firsthand accounts of how well he is doing also I want you to make contact with him."

"Contact?" She was surprised by this but she would be a lot more surprised when Orochimaru told her the entire plan for her. She knew that she would do it, she couldn't refuse an order from him but still, this was going to be a very difficult mission for several reasons.

**-Some time Later-**

Team 7 had been taking the same route they had taken home the last time they had been to the village. It was fairly peaceful, which meant no ninja ambushing them from puddles or a mist suddenly showing up with one of the world's most deadly ninja in it. Although that didn't stop Naruto from being on alert, the entire trip he was actually eagerly looking forward to being ambushed. At first it was okay, but he was starting to get on everyone's nerves somewhat.

It was no surprise when Sakura snapped first, she had been trying to control her temper lately with him but you could only take so much. "Naruto will you stop it already, we are not going to be attacked on this road a second time!"

"But you can never know what's out there," Naruto told her still looking at the trees and bushes. "Last time I was right when I threw that kunai."

"Law of averages, even idiots can be right one." Sasuke muttered.

"What was that?" Temari said coldly to the boy, Sasuke just gave her a levelled look and turned his head. Temari was tempted to give him a talking to but that wasn't her place on the team, at least not until he stepped way out of line. It was like dealing with a more emo version of Kankuro at times.

Kakashi sighed as he watched things progress he had thought that the team work had improved since the Land of Snow mission, although the team did seem a bit more closer, maybe they were just stressed. That kind of thing happened and it affected people in their own ways. Maybe this would be good for the team after all to do this mission, this was Team 7's first real mission and it had been a good growing experience for them all. It would be interesting to see what had happened to the village with Gato gone all this time.

After Sakura finally got Naruto to ease up, the trip went quieter now. After two more hours they were finally at the bridge. It looks like they had put up a sign up top for the name as well as some minor things like paint on certain parts. It was Temari that noticed the named first and stopped in her tracks.

"The hell...The Great Naruto Bridge?" She smiled giving Naruto an amused smile. He looked up at the bridge and was literally shocked to see the name of it. When they had left they hadn't heard what it would be called.

Naruto blinked as he read the sign again just to be sure that he wasn't imagining things. Then he had a huge grin plastered on his face. This was by far one of the coolest things that had happened to him in his life. Already he was having things named after him, he was becoming one great ninja, at least in his own mind. He couldn't wait to get back and tell the others he has a bridge named after him. Naruto knew that Kiba's reaction would be the best, and Lee would try to get a mountain named after him.

"How come it gets named after Naruto?" Sakura sighed a bit disappointed. "I mean we were all there."

Although she knew that she hadn't done much at all, that was kind of depressing thinking back on it. It was when Temari had shown up that Sakura didn't want to be that kind of ninja anymore, the kind that sat out the battles. She had done a lot better in Snow Country but she planned to improve some more. Although Kakashi had taken on Zabuza alone, twice even. Plus Sasuke and Naruto had fought, so that was why Sakura felt the team should have been honoured.

She cast a look to Naruto who looked happy, she felt a small smile tug on her lips as she watched how excited he was. She guessed it was only natural, Naruto craved attention and having a bridge named after you was most likely the best kind he could have gotten in life. She just hoped that Temari would keep his ego in check, the last thing he needed was that to get even bigger. She had lost count of all the trouble he had gotten himself into by thinking how great a ninja he was. It wasn't until recently he was strong enough to make those boasts.

"Who knows," Kakashi shrugged smiling. "At any rate we might as well go into town and see if we can track down the mayor's office as the request was made through them."

"Then can we see Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami?" Naruto asked hoping that they could find them soon. He really wanted to see them again.

Kakashi nodded, "It shouldn't be too hard to find the time, I still need to see what the situation currently is and plan out what our next move will be."

Naruto looked over to a certain spot as his face grew a bit more solemn as well, "I think I'll also visit Haku and Zabuza too."

They traveled along the giant bridge as they saw merchants and other people walking on it as well. By the time they crossed it they looked around. The village sure had a turn around since Gato's death. There were more businesses opened, shops and buildings that had been falling apart were being fixed up. The people also seemed to have changed the most, once where there was this massive air of depression and poverty, there was nothing of the sort around. The people were wearing better clothing, looked a lot more well groomed and better feed as well.

"Wow, and this place had been such a bump before," Naruto muttered.

"Naruto," Sakura said giving him a slight smack to the head that wouldn't hurt. "Don't say things like that out loud."

"She's right, you have got to learn to be more diplomatic," Temari told him. She allowed Sakura's disciplining of Naruto only if it was a light hit. She had gone over with the girl what was acceptable and what was not earlier. She needed help in making sure that Naruto learned what was acceptable but she couldn't watching him all the time. So she had Sakura help out, she had been helping to keep Naruto in line and his ego in check even before she had joined the village. If Naruto wanted to become Hokage, it would not be an easy taste but she knew that he could do it. He just needed the help in becoming the best Hokage the world had seen.

"So does anyone know where to meet the clients?" Sasuke asked.

Everyone looked to Kakashi who gave a pondering thought pose before he just shrugged. Everyone felt a little disappointed in that. There really hadn't been a mayor last time they were here after all so they have no way to know where the building was located.

"That's it, I'm just going to ask someone." Naruto muttered as he looked around. He saw a group of kids around his age and decided to walk over to them. "Hey there, do you know where the mayor's office is?"

The others turned around and for a moment they were going to answer, but then they noticed Naruto and the others. They also noticed the Leaf symbol on Naruto's head, everyone in the village knew of the Leaf, in fact ever since Team 7 had left the village considered the Leaf village ninjas heroes to their home. Especially those of Team 7, whom many of the kids had started to play in games. Many picked to be Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura in the streets was a common place. Others played the roles of Haku and Zabuza too but it was Team 7 that was the most popular.

One boy got over the shock of seeing actual Leaf ninja in the village. "Hey, are you guys from Konoha?"

"Huh, yeah we are, in fact this is our second time here." Naruto smiled at them.

"Second time...wait...you guys aren't Team 7 are you?" the boy said as his eyes widened as he looked them over. Not many had taken good looks at them, but their descriptions had passed through the village. He looked them over seeing the blonde with strange marks on his cheeks, the tall adult with white hair and a mask and an eye cover. A girl with pink hair and red clothing, a boy with a handsome dark look to him. Temari however the boy couldn't place, he didn't remember more than one girl.

"Oh my god it's them!" Another boy shouted out. "It really is Team 7!"

That got the attention of many other villagers who stopped to take a good look, there were quickly many people talking and whispering. Some would stare openly in amazement that the heroes had returned to their village. It was a little uncomfortable with the younger ones as they weren't used to it, even Temari was feeling a little odd. Most likely because she had caught a few asking who she was but it was the feeling she was getting from the people around them. In her own village because of her status and her family she wasn't very approachable. People had always kept their distance and there was a kind of forced respect and maybe a hint of fear.

It had changed a bit when she moved to Konoha, but this was different than anything she had seen. Most of her missions had been the more dangerous kind and not many people knew about them. She had never saved a village before so seeing how the people reacted with Team 7 made her a little envious. The people in Snow had been nice to them once the Princess was put back in power, it was like that here only more so.

If they went back to Snow would this be the kind of reception she could hope to have?

There was a high pitched squeal and suddenly one of the girls had latched onto Naruto full force in a giant glomp. Naruto wasn't used to this kind of affection from others so he wasn't sure what to do, besides he was married now, he shouldn't let girls just do that should he?

"Oh my god, I've wanted to meet you for so long! I saw you as you left but I couldn't get to see you, I'm one of your biggest fans, me and the others think you're so cool and cute! Oh I can't believe I said that! But it's all true, I can't believe you're back!" the young green haired girl said as she hugged him.

"Uh...thanks?" Naruto said not sure what to do.

Temari however did, she walked right up to the girl, grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her off. She make sure it wasn't too hard but just hard enough to let the girl know that she was out of place. It would seem that Naruto had a fan club here, well obviously the news that he was off the market hadn't reached here, no surprise really. So now she planned to not only set this girl straight but anyone else as well, it was time to mark her territory to everyone.

"Hey what the hell was that for!?" The girl said as she rubbed her butt where she had landed.

"That was to tell you to keep your hands off my husband," Temari said coldly to the girl. Everyone was shocked by the news as they looked at the two of them.

"H-Husband?" another girl in glasses asked looking disappointed and surprised.

"Yes, I'm Temari Uzumaki, wife of Naruto Uzumaki and I've very protective of him. So please let any other girl know that he's mine. I don't mind you being friendly with him, in fact I encourage it but there are limits I will not tolerate. Is that clear?" Temari crossed her arms as she gave a very commanding presence.

It was no small wonder, she was the daughter of the last Kage of Suna, she was one of the strongest genins in both Konoha and Suna, for both females and males. There was no way she was going to let any girl make Naruto uncomfortable or try and steal him away. Naruto made her happy in life, happier than she had ever been honestly and she wasn't going to lose it. Plus she still wasn't done with making Naruto's dreams a reality.

Kakashi sighed, it looked like they were in for a very unique experience with this mission. He just hoped that a jealous wife wouldn't kill any of the civilians. This was the reason why he preferred those missions that didn't involve lots of exposure. You did you job, got paid for it and only the ninja would know, when the civilians knew of your accomplishments that could only made things harder. It would be harder to move around unnoticed and most likely if the enemy had men planted in the village, by night fall they would already know they were here.

**Chapter 22: Reunion**


	22. Reunion

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 22: Reunion**

Team 7 made their way through it village, it was still a little odd seeing people take notice of them but they were slowly getting use to it. They also noticed a few more things, that was that people seemed to have taken to wearing colors associated with the team. A lot of boys were wearing blues, whites and lots of orange apparently. The girls took to not only wearing more red but Sakura noticed that several young girls had pink highlights. It was kind of flattering after all, besides he mother there was no one else in Konoha had pink hair. Eventually they found themselves to the mayor's residence, wasn't really that impressive given that this was mainly a fishing village.

They were led into the building immediately and into the office of the new mayor. It wasn't much, as the paint even looked fresh. The mayor turned out to be pretty average looking, an older man with thinning grey hair but looked like he spent most of his time working outside with a deep tan and weathered features.

"Ah, I'm so glad that Konoha was able to send the team I asked for," the mayor smiled as he got up behind his desk walking towards them. He walked with a bit of a limp it would seem from his left leg.

"I take it you're the mayor of the town and our employer," Kakashi stated.

"Ah that would be me, I'm Hiroshi Uchiyamada, we haven't had a mayor since the dark times as Gato killed the last one. But since I can't fish like I used to, my wife thought politics would be the way to go." The man laughed at his own personal joke. "Hell, I thought this would be easy but we never thought that the ghost of our past would come back to us like this."

"What can you tell me about this man that you said in your report?" Kakashi asked.

Hiroshi sighed as he sat back down behind his desk, "When I heard the story at first I didn't want to believe it but honestly from all the reports I felt that it was best to be on the safe side."

"As you know thanks to your efforts we regained our pride, when this man calling himself Cain showed up and demanded tribute the people were not going to stand for it. After all, we had just gotten free of one tyrant and didn't want to be put under the thumb of another. But it would seem that he learned a few things from Gato."

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"It would see he brought his own ninja as well," the mayor sighed. "When the people were gathering around them, four cloaked people showed up out of nowhere, they threw several of those knife weapons that you were seen carried."

"You mean these?" Naruto asked pulling out a kunai.

"Yes, like that. Well we may be brave people and we can stand up to normal criminals now, but there is no way we can handle ninja. Several people were injured in the first few moments and many shops were damaged. It could have been worse but apparently he was giving us a warning. The tribute he wanted is much less then what Gato did to us, we could still live on much better but we all agreed not to bow down again to a man like that."

"So you called for ninja to fight the ninja," Kakashi surmised after all civilians couldn't handle those trained to fight and kill since children.

"Then we'll just kick their asses and that Cain guy's as well!" Naruto yelled out grinned ear to ear as usual.

The mayor smiled at the boy's spirit, "That is what we hoped for."

"Can you tell us where the ninja come from?" Temari asked speaking up after hearing the story. It would help to know which village they were dealing with or if they were renegades.

"I'm sorry but no one could get a good look, they appeared on the buildings and no one could see much of what they looked like," he told her.

Kakashi thought about that as he had been thinking the same thing as Temari. This would complicate things a bit more as he was certain the enemy would know of them, but not knowing who they were up against, that put them at a disadvantage. They couldn't even be sure of the numbers, as four could have been anything from all of them or some of them.

After the meeting with the mayor they were on their way to look in on some old friends. Naruto was nearly bouncing by the time they got to the house. Temari looked at the place, a two story wooden home. It looked like it could use some new paint but it looked kind of homey. She looked to Naruto and she couldn't remember the last time he seemed so excited, then again these people where friends he had made and hadn't seen since he left. She gave a small smile at how happy he looked at the moment.

Naruto himself wanted to race up to the front door and knock but he wanted to wait for everyone. He wondered how the family had been doing since he had been gone, especially how Inari was. When they first got here the boy had been so deep in his own pain he lashed out at the world. But the last he had seen him, he had a new life in him. That made Naruto happy, he knew what it was like to live in the darkness, he had overcame it. He had done so with Inari and Gaara, although he wasn't too sure how he did that, he was just glad for it. It just felt like a personal victory for him whenever that happened.

By the time they came to the front door Naruto knocked and waited, he heard someone walking to the door.

"I'll be right there," A woman's voice called out, he knew it was Tsunami.

Tsunami opened the door she had been working on a few things to fix in the home. Ever since her husband had died she had to take care of such things, with her father working and Inari too young for such work. She didn't mind it she took pride in her family and home. Plus with all the new merchants in the village and trade, she could finally get decent materials for the home and for the meals.

That last thing she expected to see were the heroes of the village outside her door when she opened it.

"Hey Tsunami-san!" Naruto said happily to her.

"Naruto! And the rest of you what are you doing back here?" Tsunami was overjoyed at the sight of them all.

"We're back here on a mission," Kakashi told her, "Apparently we still have to deal with the fallout of the last time we were here."

"Oh, I've heard about that, but I didn't expect you all to come back," Tsunami looked to Temari noticing a new member of the team. "Oh I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Temari Uzumaki," Temari said to her, "I'm the new member of Team 7."

"Oh, I didn't know that Naruto had-" Tsunami started up before Temari interrupted her.

"I'm not his sister," The ex-Suna nin sighed she was getting sick and tired of this. Was it the blonde hair that did it? Sure blonde wasn't a very common hair color but still, she didn't look anything like him beyond that.

"Um, she's actually my wife," Naruto grinned nervously as he starched the back of his head.

It was kind of funny seeing Tsunami's eyes widen so large that they might fall out of her head. The last thing she expected was to have Naruto married at his young age, although the girl seemed to be a bit older but pretty. After the shock wore off she invited them inside, thankfully it was fully explained to her how Naruto could be married.

She didn't know that ninja villages had such politics after hearing the whole story. Then again her county didn't have any ninja of their own, and this was just a fishing village. She had no way to know that the great nations were so much more complicated. Although through the story she did notice that things between Naruto and Temari, the two would share looks and she noticed the closeness with each other. She had to smile seeing them, they were obviously close, which was nice for a political marriage.

"So, what can you tell us about what is going on?" Kakashi asked as soon as they had finished their own story.

"I thought you were already at the mayor's office?" Tsunami asked.

"We were, but it never hurts to get other sides to the story. To get the whole picture it's best to get multiple sources, that way you can get information that might have been left out by accident or design." Kakashi explained never once looking up from his book.

"Makes sense to me," Temari stated, "Plus officials only get the information after it's been disseminated by others."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked.

"She means after a bunch of people have looked through all the information and it's been cut up and only the high points talked about," Sakura explained as she guessed that Naruto had never heard of the word 'disseminate', then again it wasn't really an average word.

"Oh, that makes sense," Naruto figured that the people in charge needed to know only the major points or they would be at work all day. He just put that piece of information away when he was Hokage one day.

"Well anyway what I know is that some time after you left a man named Cain showed up," Tsunami told them pretty much the same story as the mayor. There were a few things as she had been in the village market when the man showed up. So they got a firsthand account of the man, and those that had come with him. But nothing much else that they could find out, she hadn't seen the symbols of the ninja either, although Kakashi knew there was little chance of anything new, it was best to be certain.

"Hey mom, we're home!" Inari's voice was heard as footsteps came closer to the room. Inari came into the room with a small bag of new food while his grandfather was behind him with the larger bag. The two had been asked to get some new items at the market for the home. As soon as Inari saw who was in their home the little boy's face lit up.

He dropped his bag and ran up and hugged Naruto. "Naruto, you're back!"

Naruto laughed as he ruffled the boy's head through his ever present hat. "Hey there, nice to see you again."

"Well I take it that you guys are back for the trouble that's been happening," Tazuna said as he had heard that the new mayor was going to hire some protection. Calling in Team 7 was a good political move as it would be popular with the people and it was a group that could be trusted. The old bridge builder, had even been offered the job as he had been the one to build the great bridge and brought the team here in the first place.

But he was a builder, not a damn Politian, and he would have been miserable in that job. He wasn't sure on the new mayor that had been elected but this gave him a good mark in, Tazuna's book. It was then he noticed the young blonde woman with them. She had that ninja air about her but she was a tad different. The girl's posture was straight and she had this air of authority about her.

"So who's the new girl?" Tazuna asked.

Temari sighed as she got the feeling she would have to go through this many times, thankfully she was saved going through it by Naruto.

"This is Temari-chan, my wife, she's pretty great isn't she?" Naruto beamed as Temari blushed a bit. She quickly tried to hide it, she wasn't used to being praised like that to strangers, plus it was Naruto doing the praising.

"Huh, you got married!?" Inari said his eyes as wide as his mother's had been.

Naruto chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah…kind of a long story…"

After going through it yet again, they all got caught up on what had been going on in the villages. The married between Naruto and Temari as well as her new status as a Leaf ninja was the major topic. Another was how Tazuna had started up new contracts for two more bridges as well as materials that he made being sent to the rebuilding of Konoha. Naruto had never thought about where all the building materials came from but given Tazuna's reputation it would seem he was in high demand. Plus he also apparently gave Konoha a slight cut in price as the village was responsible for their good fortunes.

Inari had started up school again as they finally got the money to pay for teachers again, he didn't seem to like it much but he had been making new friends lately. He also said how he wanted to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and become a great builder himself, much to the old man's pride.

Tsunami apparently had also started up a small group made up of other house wives. It didn't really have a name, mainly they helped to organize clean up and restoration of the village as well as helping others get back on their feet. Team 7 was amazed at how much had been done since they had last came here. But soon the sun was starting to fall and Kakashi said they had to make plans on where to stay.

"Well I'm certain that I can find some room for you all," Tsunami offered, it really wasn't a big deal for them all to put up with Team 7 again.

"Actually we'll be staying at the inn this time," Kakashi told her. "Last time you were targeted because of your father, but if we stay here then you'll all be targets again. I'm sure that our arrival hasn't gone unnoticed and I would prefer a place that wasn't your property. If a battle broke out I can't guarantee your safety as you're not our clients. Plus I would rather not have you all used as hostages."

Tsunami remembered how those two men had come to take her and her son, they had Inari and was threatening to kill him. She had even threaten to kill herself to prevent anything happening to her son. She really didn't want to go through that all over again, if Naruto hadn't shown up…she didn't want to think on it.

"But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be seeing us," Kakashi smiled at them all.

**-Village Inn-**

Later that night Naruto went into his shared room with Temari, he looked around but so far no one was around, he went to the bathroom and opened the door. He froze as he saw his young wife's back as she was sitting up in the tub drying herself off. He gulped as he gazed at her smooth back, her hair still wet, she always looked good like that he thought to himself.

"O-oh sorry, I didn't know you were still in here." He blushed at the sight of her, even though they were married and had been intimate on their wedding night, it was still a little nervous around her like this. He just wasn't totally used to it but it was getting there.

Temari herself was still getting use to the idea of her husband seeing her naked. She looked to the wall to hide her own blush. "It's okay I was just finishing up, you can bath now." She got out of the tub and wrapped the towel around herself.

Naruto swallowed as he nodded his head, he had his own night clothes and other things under one arm as he couldn't help but look at her. She was still very pretty and he knew exactly what was under that towel. He blushed a bit more remembering how he knew and suddenly felt his throat dry. He also really liked it when her hair was loose like it was now. His eyes traveled down to her legs and he had never really been the type of guy to really look at a girl's parts before. But Temari was making him into a leg man recently. They were so long and looked very nice to him.

Temari noticed him staring and felt her face heat up, she wasn't used to being viewed like this but it felt nice to be desired. Normally no one in her village would even dare to think any impure thoughts about her, plus those that did were the lecherous types and usually a hard glare from her made them quickly move away. But with Naruto it was different, he didn't see her as just some kind of object, he saw her as a woman.

She was reminded again of today and how girls would look at him and blush, giggle and make eyes at him. She didn't like that, this was her man, but Naruto never once took advantage of it. He only had eyes for her and that made her happy too. He was totally loyal and she knew she could trust him with anything, it was the other girls she didn't trust.

"Uh…Temari-chan?"

Temari snapped out of her thoughts looking at Naruto who had stopped taking his clothing off. She could see his bare top and the ever present necklace he wore.

"Are you staying?" Naruto asked blushing a bit.

Temari felt embarrassed, he might be thinking she wanted to watch, although a part of her mind said that wasn't a bad idea. She didn't think this was the time or place. "Sorry my mind was somewhere else."

She quickly exited the room as she dried off and put on a robe and waited for him.

Naruto was enjoying himself in the bathtub, he had refilled it with some more hot water and sighed as he sat in it. So far this had been a unique day, it was nice seeing Inari and his family again but he couldn't get over how weird it was being looked at as a hero. Sure, he had always dreamed of this moment and said how he would be great one day. But he never knew what it would be like, yeah it felt great but he would have to get used to it.

His mind also went back to Temari who had been in this tub before him. He swallowed at the thought of her naked body had been here. Sure they had gotten very close but it still embarrassed them at times to be so intimate with each other. Although he did smile at the memories of when they were together alone, he wondered if all marriages were like this? Then again, he had only known Temari only a short time while most couples knew each other for much longer.

But still, he was enjoying married life. It was nice to have someone that you could turn to, someone that would walk beside you for your life. For the first time the last piece of loneliness that he felt in his heart was gone. As he made friends that loneliness grew smaller and smaller but a small amount stayed. It hadn't bothered him but with Temari he couldn't feel even that small piece anymore. He sighed as he thought of the things they had done and all the things they would do together in the future. When the water turned cold be decided he had been in there long enough.

Naruto changed into a robe that the hotels usually had and walked into the room, she saw that Temari had the futon out and prepared.

"You didn't fall asleep in the water did you?" Temari asked as he had been in there for awhile. "I was thinking of checking to make sure you didn't drown."

Naruto got a grin on his face as an idea came to him, "You know we're married, you don't need excuses to see me naked or join me you could have just asked."

Temari's face blushed full red at what he said, "B-baka! Don't say such perverted things like that!"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at her expression, "I'm just teasing Temari-chan, but you look so cute like that."

Temari didn't say anything as she turned her face to avoid him looking at her blush. "J-just get into bed."

Naruto chuckled as they got into the same futon, ever since that night they had made love they slept in the same bed. It was then that he learned something personal about Temari, she was a cuddler. Either with a pillow or him, he remembered waking up one morning as she had pulled his face into her breasts. Not totally a bad experience but it was a shock to wake up like that. He slipped under the sheets as he stared up into the ceiling.

"Hey, Temari-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad things worked out like they did," He said smiling, "and I kind of look forward to how things go with us."

Temari felt herself smile as she turned around and Naruto move his arm to let her get closer. She placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. It always felt nice being like this, with him so close to her. She had never felt such closeness in her life until recently and she too was looking forward to their future together.

"Me too, Naruto-kun." She whispered as she started to feel her body relax against him. She could hear his heart beat and it sounded like it was going a little fast. Temari smirked as she thought of a way to get back at him. "Is someone excited?"

"M-Maybe a bit," Naruto blushed a bit, it wasn't easy to not get excited. The robes weren't too thick and he could feel her breasts pressing up against him.

Temari smiled as she not moved herself to be over top of him, Naruto looked to see her robe slowly come undone a little. He could see her cleavage at the moment and any thoughts of sleep were being pushed away. Temari noticed where his eyes were going and smiled a little, it always felt nice when he noticed her body when they were alone. Sure she had been a little jealous of all the attention he had been getting from all the girls.

She had noticed a few of the boys giving her some looks but she ignored them, civilians didn't interests her in the bit. Besides no one could match up to Naruto, plus another thing she had been thinking about. Although they slept together they hadn't been intimate since their first night as a married couple. They had been on missions and it was never the right time or place. But they were alone in a hotel room and to be honest, she wanted to feel like a wife again. To be loved by her husband was an experience that she was learning that was addictive.

"You know...I'm kind of not tired at the moment," she told him.

"R-really?" Naruto said nervously.

Temari nodded as she learned down and kissed him gently, she felt his hands on her waist as their kiss deepened. Naruto felt himself get more and more awake as he had one hand move down to her ass and gently kneaded it. He felt her moan into his mouth as she gently pulled back from him.

"Do you have any ideas on what we can do before we feel tired?" She asked him with a smirk.

Sakura yawed as she traveled the hallway, she had gone for a bit of a walk feeling a little restless. Now she was going to her own room, it was odd having her own room for a change. Usually she would share with the others but they were given a very good deal on the rooms. Kakashi and Sasuke were sharing one, Temari and Naruto were given their own room and that left her the odd one out. She didn't mind, Naruto did snore and apparently Temari was a heavy sleeper as she had never noticed.

She smirked at that, Temari was lucky for that she wasn't sure how she could deal with sleeping with a husband that did that. She blushed at the thought of something like that, she hoped that now Naruto wasn't always trying to ask her out she could concentrate more on Sasuke. But he just seemed as cold as usual. She sighed, she was getting stronger as a ninja but not getting any closer to getting Sasuke to like her as a woman.

She passed by one of the doors when she thought she heard a muffled sound. She looked and it was Naruto and Temari's room. Was there trouble already? She remembered how Kakashi said that if the enemy knew where they were, they might attack. She learned towards the door to make sure she hadn't heard wrong, although she would soon regret that.

She could finally make out the sounds as well as some talking.

"Oh god right there, that's the spot." Temari's muffled voice could be heard.

"This feels even better than last time," Naruto said back, Temari moaned something that Sakura couldn't make out but her eyes widened as she suddenly realized what was going on.

She pulled her head back and covered her mouth from making any kind of noise. Her face was all red as her eyes were wide in shock. She quickly ran to her room and hoped that she could forget what she had heard, she never meant to over heard something like that! It would be a long night for Sakura as it would be for the newlywed couple close to her room but for different reasons.

**-Elsewhere-**

Miles away from the village, there was an old fort, this had once been used in the age before ninja. When the lands were ruled by many feudal lords, in fact it was just one of many. All over the known world you could find these places that remained of the old days. Many had been taken by lords or dukes over the years, many others fell into disrepair, some like this one fell into the hands of companies or other rich men and women of power. This had once been Gato's base of operations in the Land of Wave, that is until his death. Now it served a new master, Cain.

Cain had been a high up employee of Gato, one of many in fact. He had been running the smuggling side of things when he had heard that Gato had been killed. As soon as word spread every member of the organization with ambition went for the empty seat of power. For months a bloody feud over it took the lives of many. Many more were hired to replace the small armies of thugs, villains and criminals. Many hadn't the foresight to last long, using all their money and resources on man power, others using them to hire assassins.

Cain had been different, he held back as he had slowly built up his own empire. With his smuggling he had a large amount of money coming in, it wasn't easy to keep it running when others tried to move in on his turf. But with proper planning he had waited for the other main factions to bloody themselves enough so that they were weak. It was then in one fell swoop he came out of nowhere and smashed the others. He knew that he had to make an example, to show that he was the one to rule now. He killed the leaders and their highest minions and absorbed the rest into his own forces.

Now he lead the remains of the old gang as well as all the new members. He had been slowly regaining the territories lost in the Gato's fall. It was now that he had his sights on one of the last remaining areas, and he was starting with the very place Gato was killed. Although Cain had seen the profits of squeezing villages dry, it was short sighted. You can't get blood from a stone and you can only bleed the people until there is nothing left. But he hadn't been in charge then, now things were different. He used intimidation and fear for the people like before, but the tribute was lowered.

The villages and businesses would pay and although the profit wasn't as much, it would last much longer. Besides he had plans to expand his criminal empire. But lately he had heard disturbing rumours and sent a few men to see for himself if they were true.

The office was large, just as Gato had left it but Cain had changed the décor a bit for his own tastes. There were less gaudy and more stylized pieces of art and items, the large desk was made out of pure oak and his chair had a long back almost making it look like a throne. Everything was made to be larger than life and to intimidate. Cain himself was a taller man than Gato was, although his hair held strands of grey his face looked like it had bee chiselled out of rock. At the moment he was looking at one of the men that had been infiltrating the village.

"So, the village has hired ninja again then?" Cain asked hearing the report.

"Yes sir, but not just any team. This is the team that was responsible for Gato's death on the bridge sir."

Cain had another difference than Gato, that was he knew that ninja weren't to be trifled with. With their abilities with that chakra stuff, they were far more dangerous than any of his normal men. He had a feeling that if he tried anything with that village they might seek out help again. Now it would seem that Cain would have to use 'them' again after all. It would be expensive but it couldn't be helped.

"Very good, get back there and keep an eye on things. I need a full report on the entire team if you can, and send in Grey, I need him to deliver a message for me." Cain dismissed his man and was left alone to brood on this. Things were getting dangerous now, he had to play this out carefully or he could suffer the same fate as Gato had.

**Next up Chapter 23: Trouble on the Way**


	23. Trouble on the Way

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 23: Trouble on the Way**

The next morning saw the team having breakfast together with Tazuna and the rest of his family. Kakashi didn't mind spending time with the family it was good to see them actually. Too many times missions he had done in the past had been bloody, horrible and things that had been done in the shadows. Sure it made their current mission a bit difficult but it was nice to see that a ninja can impact the world in a positive way. He had to admit that his team had done a lot for the town, maybe in some way it evened out his karma in life. His thoughts drifted through, back home. Looking at everyone here happy around a breakfast table, when had been the last time he had ever been in a position like this?

His own mother died when he had been so very young that he barely remembered her, and his father, well he had killed himself when Kakashi had been eleven years old. Ever since then he had lived alone, ate alone at home, cooked for himself and everything else. After the deaths of Rin, Obito and Minato he had shut out the world for a long time before others managed to open him up some. Now looking around the table it felt a bit alien to him. He put on a good face but he was always good at masking his real emotions. In fact it had only been recently that things had been slightly different with him, mainly thanks to a certain purple haired ninja.

His mind drifted to Anko, ever since they started the…well whatever it was between them, after sex they would be too tired and just fell asleep. It had been odd the first time, that morning after hadn't exactly been easy. Neither one was sure what to say or do, but by now they had a decent routine. Plus a few ground rules, mainly whosever's place they were at, they did the cooking in the morning.

It was why he had a fresh stock of green tea as she apparently loved that stuff almost as much as dango, a surprise to him. She also kept a few things he liked as well at her place. Thinking of Anko brought out confusing emotions in him, things he hadn't really felt before. When she was around he felt a bit calmer, well on the inside, with Anko around things were never truly 'calm'. The woman was full of energy, mischievous, and so thing were never dull. But that's what made life more interesting. Even her faults, like how she kept rearranging his stuff because she claimed her system was superior. Well he did the same to her place in retaliation. Little games like that he found himself enjoying.

But they were just friends where they? Then again how many friends had sex together was another question. It had been her idea after all not to complicate things, and he felt the same. So why did things suddenly feel more complicated?

At any rate he looked around and something was odd, for some reason Sakura was very quiet. She looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep for some reason and she kept avoiding looking at Naruto and Temari's direction. At first he thought she was angry at either one or both of them but there was no malice in it. In fact the one time he caught her looking up and had to answer a question Temari asked the young pink haired girt would blush and quickly look away after she answered. That got Kakashi's interest as whatever was going on seemed to give him the impression he missed something funny. He mentally shrugged as he thought of what to do next.

It was obvious that by now there would be spies already in the town looking for them and reporting back. If he could find those and maybe track them back to whenever this Cain was based, they could take the fight to him and avoid any combat in the village. It would help matters from a tactical point, the only problem was how to flush out any spies. He looked at his team, it was a little manipulative but in the ninja world that was how their life worked. If could have his team go out among the town, and he could have his ninja dogs in the shadows watching. With their senses they could tell if someone would be following them, then the dogs could back track them to their boss.

The only problem was if the opposition had hired ninja of their own, then they would find his dogs. Thankfully they knew to go back to where they came from if things got nasty, but it was still a risk. But then, risk was what their lives were about, if they wanted a safer life they should have become civilians.

"Well then while we're here why don't you four go out for a bit," Kakashi smiled at them.

"Huh, what about out mission?" Naruto asked.

"Well I'm going to look for some information, unless we know where this Cain person is the only thing we can do is simply wait for him to show up." Kakashi explained to the four of them.

"Is that wise?" Temari asked the jonin. "What if they send people into the village while we're just out like that?"

"That's why you'll be in teams of two," Kakashi smiled at them. "I want you two always together just in case of that same thing. This way you won't be caught alone and you can cover each other."

There was a moment's pause, the kids weren't too sure although it would be nice to see how the village had prospered. Kakashi threw in that they could also train for a bit if they wanted to, that was all it was needed to get Naruto fired up, plus he wanted to show Inari the new moves he learned since he had last been here. Temari of course decided to go with her young husband, since she felt like a bit of training, also to keep an eye on him. Well more of any pushy girls, she trusted Naruto but the boy didn't know how to handle girls. That left Sakura and Sasuke said boy didn't show much enthusiasm although Sakura was glad to have some space from the married couple. She still couldn't look at them without visuals of what she had heard last night.

Eventually Sakura offered to help Tsunami with shopping as a way to repay for the woman's hospitality. Plus it brought back memories of her first visit to this place as well, hopefully the stores would be better stacked and she wouldn't find children going hungry in the streets.

**-Naruto and Temari-**

Naruto and Temari ended up going for a bit of training, Inari wanted to join in at least to watch. He hadn't seen what Team 7 did last time and he really wanted to see what new things Naruto learned and also what Temari could do. So they walked to the lake that was near the town with the forest in it. It was isolated and a perfect place to train, although it was also very nostalgic with Naruto as he looked around the area Team 7 learned to climb trees. On the way they seemed to pick up a few others, mainly boys and girls ranging from Temari to Inari's ages. It seemed that they would have a bit of an audience, Naruto of course loved the attention. Temari not so much, all these people would make training harder and she knew that Naruto's focus would be messed up because of it as well.

Naruto led the way as he still remembered how to get to the area he stopped at two trees and smiled looking at them.

"What is it?" Temari asked walking up to him.

"See those marks?" Naruto pointed at all the cuts into the two trees. "This is where we learned how to tree climb. Sakura-chan made it in one go but me and Sasuke spent hours trying to get up it."

Temari smirked at the sight of all the marks on the trees, "At least he was as bad as you seemed to have been."

"Yeah he-hey wait a minute!" Naruto turned to his smirking wife.

"You're too easy to tease you know that?" She smiled at him.

Not for the first time, Naruto was wondering if teaching her how to joke around and relax had been a good thing. Well he could always find a way to get back at her later, it was one of the little games they played with each other and they made sure they didn't cross any lines either.

"So what's the new stuff you learned huh?" Inari asked the older boy.

Naruto grinned as he saw the perfect thing, a very large rock that was the perfect shape and size. He could use a tree but honestly he wasn't sure which way the tree would fall. Getting some civilians killed by a falling tree in training wouldn't be a good thing. He started off with a clone as usual as he got into the right position.

"What's he doing, I've already seen this before?" Inari wondered.

"Just wait," Temari said smiling at Naruto. "What you're about to see is something very few people get to see. Only three people that I know of, know of this technique."

Naruto used the clone to mould the chakra that he gathered and formed his most powerful move. He dispelled the clone as he slammed the rasengan into the giant rock. The ball of destructive chakra slowly chewed through the stone like it was nothing. In a few seconds the rasengan went right through the rock, splitting it into several pieces. Naruto pulled his hand back to avoid it getting caught in the shards as he looked back to the group. He couldn't help himself grinning at the sight of everyone in awe of his jutsu.

He couldn't help but love the attention, in a ninja village it was hard to impress people but here where ninja were more heard of than seen, it was a lot easier.

"Hey Temari-chan, how about you show them what you can do?" Naruto asked his wife. If they were impressed by that, then he could bet they would be really impressed. Temari's jutsus were very powerful and a sight to behold.

Temari looked over the lake and nodded to herself, this would be the perfect place for her style of training. She doubted that clear cutting the forest would win her points, although she did learn that logging and crafting was a secondary industry for this village the lake as a much better training area.

She pulled her iron fan out from behind her. She opened it up all the way to three moons, she wanted to really let loose for some reason. Maybe it was also to show just how strong she was and yet another way to show to those girls she noticed looking at Naruto, that if they wanted him they had to get through her first. It was strange, she was never this possessive in her life before, but Naruto was the exception.

As everyone saw the fan unfold, many had had no idea that the large item she carried had been a huge fan. Inari looked at it confused on how that could be used as weapon and decided to say so.

"Why do you have a fan? I thought ninja carried really cool weapons?" the young boy asked, not noticing the slight tick Temari got. She hated it when people bad mouthed her choice in weapon just because it wasn't a more 'standard' ninja weapon.

Thankfully for the boy Naruto stepped in, "Oh trust me, Temari-chan's fans are awesome! She can make huge wind blasts, I've seen her slice up trees in training with them."

Temari smiled hearing Naruto's voice, she could feel the pride he had in her. That was something she rarely felt in her life, there had only been Baki and one other that ever praised her skills. Hearing that make her thing back to those times. Both the good and the bad, but she pushed that away as she got herself ready.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!" She shouted as she swung the iron fan before her. Raging winds blew out of the fan as the water of the lake looked like it was in the middle of a storm. The water splashed all over the place as it was displaced by the winds, large waves were formed. Even the water that rose up looked like it was being 'cut' and then sent out. It was a powerful and awesome sight to hold for all the non-ninja that looked on. Temari moved the fan behind her with the grace of a dancer as she looked back at everyone.

"Wow, Temari-san is so cool!" One of the females shouted out and soon many were looking at Temari with what could only be described as naked admiration.

Temari wasn't used to being praised like that, she tried to hold back a blush not wanting to seem too eager for it. Naruto however couldn't help but smile at how people were accepting Temari, seeing her like this he felt a sense of pride and something else burning inside of him. He paused as he really looked at her, holding her fan out with the water behind her, the sun hitting her just right. He really did like her, actually it was more than that he was sure.

Temari was the first he told his secret too and accepted him, the first girl he kissed, and well, also the first girl he lost his virginity too. He felt a slight blush at those memories, although they had only done that a few times he now saw what the big deal was with sex. Although it didn't seem like just simple 'sex' to him, but something more. But looking at Temari now and thinking back to everything he felt this warmth flood his chest. Was this was love really felt like he wondered, was he really falling in love with Temari? They spent all that time together, slept in the same bed, and did all kinds of things together. She filled his life in ways he never knew before.

Plus she looked so beautiful in that moment, so powerful, so pretty and confident. He was glad that he was put into this arranged marriage, at first he had been so worried it would have been an empty one but it wasn't.

"I think her moves are even better than yours," Inari said grinning up at the boy.

"Huh? Hey wait a minute the rasengan was created by the Fourth Hokage and only the greatest ninja know of it!"

"It's just a ball, did you see what she just did though, that was really awesome!" Inari said back to Naruto.

Naruto just sighed, was his jutsu really not all that flashy? Well no matter he still felt the rasengan was the coolest thing he had. Although maybe he should start with his wind training while Temari was here, he still could use the help and then he could use his own kickass wind jutsus as well.

**-Sakura and Sasuke-**

The two other members of Team 7 were walking in the business district of the village. Sakura could really tell the difference, the stands had not only more items but in better quality. She already had a small bag worth of food that Tsunami needed. She cast a worried look to Sasuke, the boy hadn't said a word the entire time. She tried to get him to talk but he only communicated in non-verbal ways. She was starting to worry about him as lately he had been a bit more distant with everyone. Ever since he had been put into the hospital by his older brother Itachi, there had been this darkness inside of him. She didn't know the full details, but something had obviously happened.

Sasuke had been thinking long and hard while Sakura shopped, mainly about his lack of power. When he heard that Itachi was after Naruto he had run off to his teammate. Finally after all these years he had met his brother since that day Itachi had killed everyone. All the pain and rage he had kept inside of his heart exploded upon seeing him. He tried his strongest attack that he learned from Kakashi and what did it get him? He was thrown down like a doll, the power his brother had was more than he had thought. Sasuke honestly thought he was strong but that day he had seen truth strength, then he had looked into his brother's eyes and was thrust back into that hellish nightmare for three days.

It had just been too much he had been put into a coma from just that one technique. But it felt like forever for him, all these years, all the training, all the blood and sweat, it had been all for nothing. He was still weak. He needed power, real power to crush Itachi and avenge all those the man had slaughtered. He hadn't seen all the bodies that night but he knew that Itachi had slaughtered without mercy. Men, women, elderly, even the children were killed, innocent ones that had no reason to be killed. His own parents as well, leaving him all alone in the world. He always wondered why he had lived and everyone else had been killed, was it just because he was Itachi's brother, was there some reason for it? Well, Sasuke didn't care for the reason; as long as he breathed Itachi would die for his sins.

But not as he was now, Sasuke needed to train more and to learn a lot more. But where would he get that from? Kakashi was training them all equally but it was slowing his own training. Sakura was a weak link in the team since day one, at least Temari was competent. In fact he was feeling a bit envious of Naruto at the moment Temari was a fine specimen of a female ninja, someone like that was the type of woman Sasuke wanted to help him revive his clan. Only a strong woman would do, it was a shame that they chose Naruto. Although why they chose the idiot was beyond him. It was just another thing that made no sense, why did Naruto suddenly get so much stronger in these last few months?

In the academy he had been the loser, the dead last all the time. Yet it had been Naruto that had defeated Gaara that had defeated that mask ninja in wave with the ice mirrors, both enemies that he couldn't beat and yet the idiot had. It was Naruto that got training by one of the Legendary Sannin. Why? What made him so special? There was nothing special about him and yet he kept getting stronger and trained by legends. That was why he had started to train in his curse mark in secret, he knew Kakashi wouldn't let him but he needed that power. But it wasn't enough, the learning was slow and he didn't know enough about the curse mark. He needed something more but he didn't know what.

His mind being pulled back into the present he looked around the area, Sakura was buying something and he looked on. A few girls were pointing and giggling at him, most likely saying how 'cute' he was and other such things girls had been saying about him since he could remember. Personally, he could care less what they said. Something caught his eye as he thought he saw movement in the corner of his vision. He carefully looked again but whatever it was, was gone now. Maybe it had been his imagination but he swore he felt a presence following them.

He shrugged it off as they continued on.

Not far away in an alleyway a figure loomed in the shadows, Sasuke had been right that someone had been following them, in fact they had been shadow for quite some time. As the two genins went on the figure kept their distance as the two were followed.

**-Elsewhere-**

Urshui never was one for tracking, even if he was one of the ninja hounds that Kakashi used. The white dog with the blue vest was one of the eight dog team that was assigned to Kakashi Hatake after he had signed the contract with them years ago. Personally he liked being given to Kakashi because the man always was given good missions and he still remembered that one with that Mist ninja that tasted like blood and water. He didn't bother remembering names, especially the ones of the enemy. But all though he was great at tacking, he like the other dog Bull, preferred actual combat.

But that was not the case this time this time their summoner wanted them to keep an eye on the kids. He had been following the one that smelled like a fox and ramen, with the one that smelled of the dessert. He had been hiding all that time but finally he had noticed a strange scent in the trees. He was now following him as the other smaller dog Biscuit stayed behind just in case. So for the last hour he had been following the human who was now sneaking out of the village towards the forest.

The man was named Goro, he had been part of one of the crime groups that had been swallowed up by Cain when he took over all of Gato's old territory. Well no matter for him, old boss or new as long as he got paid. Although he didn't like going into that village, it held a nasty rumour among the organization that said the place was a curse on them all. It was the reason why they had never tried to go back there, after what happened with Gato and those that the villagers hadn't caught while escaping no one went there anymore. He really wished he wasn't sent to that place, and to make things worse the ninja team that had come before seemed to be back again.

Goro didn't take this as a good sign, at any rate he would report back to those new ninja that the boss hired. They were supposed to be around this area somewhere, but damn if he could find them. Then again these were ninja after all.

"Where the hell are they?" Goro asked himself feeling a bit nervous. He felt like someone had been watching him but then again he always was paranoid.

"I hope you're talking about us," a voice came from behind him.

Goro turned around and was surprised to see five members in brown cloaks, he was sure they hadn't been there before but he later realized that he shouldn't be too surprised. A large male stepped forward who seemed to be the leader of this group. They carried no symbol of what village they were from, a tell tale sign that they were renegades or outlaws. No surprise there, after all the ninja that Gato had hired had been the same. It was common practice for criminals to hire outlaw ninja as those ninja worked cheaper and for anyone to earn a living and to keep one step ahead of hunter ninja.

"I take it you have a report," it was more a statement then anything by the large man. This full bulk was hidden by the cloak and hood but it only seemed to make the man even more intimidating.

"Y-Yes, it seems that the village hired that same team as last time. I heard the rumours that they had a new member but I didn't see who it was. But they're all in the village at the moment it would seem." Goro said.

"Where you followed?" came the voice of a slim one with long silver hair but with the sides totally shaved. The man had a wild look in his eyes as he looked at Goro almost like he was prey.

"O-Of course, even I would have noticed a person following me!" Goro said in his defence, he checked behind him all the time even a ninja he should have seen at least one sign.

"Then how do you explain that," the slim one said as he threw out his arm. Several large discs flew out, as they went a certain distance four sharp blades extended from them. They went into a bush as a yelp was heard and something that left a puff of smoke.

"Gin, what was that all about?" The large leader asked.

"There was an animal that had been following him, a white dog of some kind. At first I thought it was a wild one but it acted with a lot more intelligence. It had been watching us the entire time and I'm pretty sure it was listening." The one named Gin explained to him as his sharp grey eyes looked at Goro. "You let yourself be tracked back here."

"I-I never thought to look for an animal, but you killed it didn't you?" Goro felt more fear then ever at the moment. He swore that he hadn't been followed and it was proven a lie, plus there was no telling what would happen. Also that Gin, guy was seriously creeping him out, those grey eyes were cold like a killer.

"Yes how about it?" A female of the group spoke up.

Gin sighed, "Turns out it was a summons, I heard the sound and saw a bit of smoke. That means it returned safely back to its home before being killed. Now the master who summoned it will call it back and find out where are friend here went. Plus since it was a dog its most likely had the man's scent now."

"So he's useless then," a slightly muffled voice was heard, this one had bandages all over the face with the exception of the eyes.

"Not entirely, there is still one thing we could use him for. Gin, it's time for you to make some traps and to bait them." The leader told him.

"T-traps?" Goro asked looking at them as the female of the group turned to face him.

"Gin is an expert at trap making." She explained to him.

"So what's the bait?" Goro asked sweating it was then he noticed how silent things were and how they were all looking at him. He knew what the bait was now, so he did the only thing he could think of. He tried to run, he got about a meter before his world went dark as a pain hit him in the back of his neck.

**Next up Chapter 24: The Trap**


	24. The Trap

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 24: The Trap**

When his dogs reported in, Kakashi took notice of the missing member of the team. After he sent one back to check to see if the missing member returned to their home, both dogs came back. Apparently Biscuit had followed a human and who came in contact with a ninja team. Unfortunately he couldn't say anything more as he had nearly been killed and had transported back to their home before being fatally killed. Kakashi after being showed the path the man took, got the scent and the trail. Now he knew where the man went and the direction.

The only problem was that the enemy force was already aware that they were on to them. So this led to two possibilities. The enemy would attack in a pre-emptive strike or lay a trap for them. There were at least five of them but he wanted to take them on, one at a time. There was no way to tell their levels of skill, what they could do, and many other unknowns. Waiting around for an attack was out of the question; the civilians would get caught in the fighting and could be used as hostages. Plus urban fighting was always tricky, even if you knew the layout of the city. There were too many places to hide and too many unknowns that can change.

He would have to have them take the fight to them take down their numbers forcing the others to withdraw. Then track them to their hideout, and then they could plan for that part of the mission when they reached that point. So he gathered up his team and laid out the attack plan. They would go in a wide spiral pattern around the last known area that the spy had been seen. This way they wouldn't go straight into the obvious trap that would be set, also it would allow them to notice anything on their way as the slowly made their way to the center. If the enemy force was spread out, then they would attack and overwhelm one member and take them out fast. That would give them the numbers advantage early on into the fight.

So now Team 7 was traveling the treetops of the forest, they were in a five-man diamond formation at the moment. Kakashi was in the lead as his senses were the sharpest and he had done this manoeuvre plenty of times on missions. He could lead them in the correct pattern without going too close or far from the path. The three behind him were Naruto and Temari on the sides with Sakura in the middle. Since Naruto and Temari were the powerful ones they were to protect their flanks with Sakura as backup for whoever needed it. Sasuke was last as he was to protect their rear, and with the sharingan he could keep a better eye out then the others.

Although this was the safest way to reach the target it was also the longest and the more boring. At least Naruto through that, he wanted to charge in but of course he had been shot down with that idea by both Sakura and Temari. He sighed, as he kept an eye out for trouble.

Kakashi so far had led them into the largest circle of the pattern and moved a bit closer. They had made about a half circle when he pulled his hand up flat in the air. The team quickly gathered behind a large rock that Kakashi had stopped behind. He slowly slid his head around it to take a look, he had seen something in the distance and now he wanted to make sure. In the distance he saw a figure hunched down looking towards the area where the man his dog had tracked, had last been seen.

'_Seems like they're watching the area,'_ Kakashi thought as he scanned the area. _'Looks like only him but either they're spread out evenly in s circle or they're in small groups. Can't see the other one if they're in partners but I can't see everywhere. They could also be behind the tree somewhere out of my line of sight.'_

Kakashi figured that this was the best way to take out one or even two members of the enemy force from the start. The noise would draw attention towards them, so if things went well he would pull them back and attack the enemy when they rushed in. He gave a few signals with his hands, this was something all ninja learned while in the academy as it was basic for survival in the field.

Kakashi would attack from this position with Sakura and Sasuke, while Naruto and Temari encircled them so they could attack from the rear. This way the enemy would be caught between them, as they needed to get this over with quickly as possible.

The teams split off as they moved silently to attack. Naruto was eager for a fight as ever, he couldn't believe that someone was going to harm Inari's village again. That village had started to come back and someone wanted to ruin it all. For Naruto this was a bit more personal for him but he couldn't wait to kick all the asses of all these guys. Plus this was also the first real mission with Temari on the team, with her on the team he knew they would be awesome. Although he hadn't noticed a thin wire set up on the branch where he had just stepped on until it was too late.

"Wha?" Naruto looked down feeling something catch his leg and noticed the thin wire. Temari saw it as well as he eyes widened, time seemed to slow down as she grabbed his jacket and pulled him down with her as they both started to fall off the tree tops. She made it just in time as several kunai attacked to the trigger wire hit the trunk, just missing them.

But it turned out it was a good idea for Temari to pull him out of the tree, as the kunai had explosive tags on them. They exploded sending pieces of wood out over the area, Temari could feel a sting of a few cuts on an arm but she had bigger issues with the ground coming up fast. Naruto wasn't sure what was going on at first that is until the explosion happened. He quickly formed as many clones as he could, they grabbed both the real Naruto and Temari and when they were all about to hit the ground, the clones threw them up as they slammed into the ground. The clones turned into smoke as they hit but Temari and Naruto managed to get onto a low hanging branch.

But by then, the entire stealth part of the plan was no longer an issue the enemy in the tree heard all the noise. Kakashi had hoped they could pull this off but no battle plan survived first contact and you couldn't predict everything. His team rushed forward to try and surprise the man but when Kakashi's foot hit the branch he had just stepped on, something was off. The branch gave way as it broke, he managed to see that part of the branch had actually been cut through making it really weak. He tumbled forward as he was unbalanced and tried to right himself. He managed to flip himself a bit forward with his momentum and it was a good thing he had.

When he landed his heels weren't on solid ground, he nearly lost his balance again as the ground he had landed on wasn't totally solid. He threw himself forward as he looked back at the ground behind him. The branch had fallen through the grass as he realised that there was a hole under the ground. The branch had been cut so a person would fall into a tiger trap, and if he was a betting man he would bet there were spikes under that false grass top. Now things were starting to make sense as to why he didn't see anyone else, they had the unfortunately luck to run into a trap user.

He hated fighting trap users when they had time to prepare, you never know the kinds of things they would come up with. He looked up to see their prey was already gone, this was bad. There was no telling what else was here and that explosion would alert the rest of the enemy force to their location. They had to work fast now, they could be overwhelmed if they dragged this out. He shouted out the warning of the traps to his team in case they didn't understand the situation. He had to gather up the team, he saw Sasuke and Sakura not far away and told them to follow him. He had to get to Temari and Naruto to make sure that they hadn't been harmed by the explosion. He had only gotten a few meters when he suddenly jumped back a glint of light off metal his only warning as a sword came at his blind side.

Kakashi got a kunai out in time to stop apparently a second sword. The man before him wasn't the target he had been looking for, the man was slimmer build with the same dusty cloak but with a bandana on his head. He was also fighting with two ninjato type swords, unlike a katana, these blades were a bit shorter and great for slashing and quick movements. The man's face grinned as Kakashi took notice of a few scars on the face, little ones but still noticeable.

"Oh I know that face," the sword wielder smirked, "The famous Kakashi Hatake eh? Always did want to fight someone of your calibre."

"Sorry but I don't know yours," Kakashi said as they traded blows with their weapons, he was a bit hard pressed to match up with the blades. The man was obviously skilled in sword play, a specialist in that field that much was obvious to him. Although he couldn't see any symbol on him for what village he was from, so they were rogues then.

"The name is Natsu, but sorry to say that's all I'll give you." The man now known as Natsu told Kakashi.

"Yes, well I need to finish this to help my team out."

"My friend Gin will deal with your kids, besides you should be more worried about yourself," Natsu said as the attacks increased in speed. Kakashi barely had time to pull out another kunai to his fee hand to help with the deflecting of the blades. Even with the sharingan helping him, the man's abilities were impressive. Kakashi was thought to how he wished he had fixed his father's blade, that weapon would have been perfect to have in a fight like this. But there were a lot of issues he had with the blade, mainly what memories it held the day it broke.

For Sasuke and Sakura things weren't getting much better as they had to cross over a field of booby traps. However they did manage to get closer to Kakashi as he was battling Natsu the swordsman.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called out to him.

"I'm fine, go check on Naruto and Temari," Kakashi ordered as he was deep in his fight.

The two genins didn't need to be told twice as they left to check on their two teammates.

Temari groaned as felt her arm, she saw the cuts into the sleeve of her white battledress and saw a little blood but nothing too bad. Even though when she moved her arm to experiment, she could feel a slight pang of pain when the arm moved a certain way. Most likely she had a couple of slivers of wood in her arm, she would have to get that looked at when they could before it got infected.

"Temari-chan are you okay?" Naruto asked her, he could see her wince in pain when she moved her arm. He felt guilty, he had been the one to trigger the trap and she nearly got killed saving him from it. Although he had saved them from the fall, she looked hurt and he had promised himself to take care of her.

"Just a little banged up," she told him to put him at ease. She could see the worry in his eyes, they were always the most emotional part of his face and she knew enough that she could tell his mood just by looking into those blue eyes of his. He needed to get his head together too, she couldn't let him get distracted in a moment like this. Then she heard the sound of fighting and she could make out Kakashi fighting someone else in the small open area in the forest.

"Damn, we need to hurry Naruto-kun, where did the other one go?" Temari looked around for their first target but he wasn't in the trees anymore.

Naruto looked around as well as he noticed the same thing as her. He mentally cursed himself, he couldn't believe that he triggered that trap and nearly got himself and Temari killed. People always kept telling him not to jump into things headfirst but he was just impulsive, he couldn't help it. But he would think later, right now their enemy had just disappeared. A loud commotion was heard where the others were and he guessed they had run into some trouble as well.

A loud whistling sound was their first and only warning as they dodged out of the way of a dozen senbon needles hitting where they had been. Temari winced when she grabbed her battle fan, her shoulder was swelling up and it was making it hard to use it. She had to use both hands to really use the massive weapon. She could use the smaller battle fans that Naruto gave her, but they weren't as powerful. She took a step and felt something in the ground give way with a click sound.

"Damn it," She cursed as she jumped out of the way of yet another trap. This one was a log with stakes put on it that slammed into where she had been and imbedding itself into the truck of a nearby tree. She was seriously getting pissed off at this guy.

Naruto wasn't doing any better, he was good at setting traps but he was never very good at avoiding them. Well at for not setting them off, he did have an unnatural ability to survive traps and he was thankful for that now. He saw Temari in trouble and tried to get closer to her, they needed each other to beat this guy and he could tell he was trying to separate them. He heard someone coming up behind him and so he quickly preformed a substitution with a log nearby when several kunai tried to imbed into his back. Naruto reappeared nearby and now he could see the guy that had been attacking them.

He looked kind of skinny with white hair, and the guy was grinning like a maniac which was kind of unsettling.

"Well you must live a charmed life boy," Gin snickered at him. "now many have lived that long while I've placed my traps around the area. But that won't matter too much, it's not like a couple of kids can take me out."

"Oh yeah, we're not just kids we're Konoha ninja and we're going to kick your asses for trying to harm this village." Naruto brazenly declared to the other man.

"Heh, you're full of confidence aren't you?" Gin laughed a bit.

"Yeah and you're going to see why," Naruto yelled out as he created a clone while running. He had one hand held out to the clone as they formed the rasengan together. The clone then jumped onto the shoulders of the original as he lunched himself off at the other ninja. Gin threw out several small bombs that exploded taking out the clone and leaving smoke in the way. Gin jumped back but Naruto had taken advantage of the smoke as well.

He altered his course and jumped through the smoke, the rasengan slammed into the body of the ninja. Naruto grinned as he thought he caught the guy but something was wrong. The rasengan was had worked but the guy wasn't reacting.

"Got'cha!" Gin said as he seemed to balloon up. Naruto was caught in an explosion, the real Gin stepped out from behind a tree chuckling. Although he specialized in traps he was also good at earth jutsu. That was a special earth clone of his that he kept on hand for just like moments like this. It held several explosives inside of it so when it was damaged the earth clone would set it off.

"All too easy," Gin grinned although that was an impressive attack the boy had he admitted to himself. He certainly didn't want to get caught by it, now it was time for the girl. He hadn't gotten a good look at her as he was more focused on the boy but how much trouble could a girl genin be? He looked across the field to see the blonde haired girl but he froze when he saw her fan. He knew that style of fighting, she was a long range wind user not a good opponent to fight when he was this far from her.

Temari had managed to see what had happened to Naruto and gritted her teeth. She didn't want to think how hurt Naruto might be, she was only focused on the man that had hurt her husband. She put all her strength into her holding her fan and focusing her chakra, ignoring the pain in her shoulder. She swung her fan fully exposed as she used as powerful a wind blast as she could, but the man seemed to be prepared. Most would try their own attack not knowing the full power of a wind user like her, but this man must have fought someone like her to know most attacked would just be blown back.

She cursed as the man jumped out of the range of her wind blast, normally that wouldn't be a problem but with her shoulder she wasn't sure how many times she could use that. The pain that had flared up was very distracting for her focus.

Gin saw that the girl was favouring one of her arms, in that case he had a plan already set out. He would tire her out a bit more and then when she couldn't hold it any longer he would attack. Maybe even move her to one of the traps that was a few meters to her left. He was about to try and move himself to get into a better position when suddenly half a dozen pairs of hands grabbed onto him from behind.

"What the hell?" Gin shouted trying to see who it was and saw many copies of the genin he thought he had just killed.

The clones were looking slightly singed looking but they grinned as they held him into place. "Welcome to our trap." One of the clones said to him.

Temari was surprised to see Naruto's clones, that meant that the real Naruto was still alive and well. She heard motion to her right and saw Naruto coming towards her. He had looked better but he seemed okay. "Naruto, what happened?"

He grinned at her, "the rasengan took most of the explosion and flew me back into some bushes."

She was momentarily surprised but then she tried not to laugh, Naruto she had learned had the most bizarre luck in life, things that would normally kill another he seemed to find a way out of. She looked back to her target now that he couldn't move and grinned herself, but this was more predatory. Now the ninja wouldn't be able to dodge her next attack. She tried to lift her fan but winced and nearly dropped it, but Naruto had managed to help her catch it before it fell.

"I'll help," Naruto told her in a serious tone. She saw the look in his eyes this was the same look she had seen back in his fight with Gaara. They were the eyes of a ninja that would never lose a look that made her get a shiver down her spin but this was a more pleasant sensation. She nodded her head as they held her fan together.

"Give me the chakra and I'll use it," Temari told him, "but only a bit."

She was glad she remembered to add that last part, she had no idea just how much chakra she could mould herself but the amount that Naruto could use would be too much. She felt the rush of chakra filling her fan from him, all those months of training him in wind chakra had been very beneficial for this moment. When she used her fan the wind was like feeling the breeze of a wind storm, with Naruto, it felt like she was feeling the winds of a hurricane.

It was so primal and focuses that it took her by surprise she had never felt anything like this in her life. The wind was nearly uncontrollable as it came from her fan she had never used such a wind attack in her life. The ground itself was tarring itself out of the ground, rocks were being lifted and sent flying, trees were bending as bark was ripped from their trunks. The ninja never stood a chance, his screams were drown out by the wind as he was flung back into a tree, other trees broke down around him as he was buried in tree, earth, rock and anything else. By the end of it there wouldn't have been much left of the man and if he had survived he wouldn't live for long under all of that.

Naruto and Temari were relieved when their enemy went down, that meant that they had taken out one of the enemy ninja force making this fight a bit easier for their side. Temari looked to her husband and smiled, they made a good team. Maybe when they got back she would look into them training in a few combo moves. With his chakra supply and his affinity the same as hers, they could come up with some devastating wind attacks. But she never got any further in her thoughts as a huge gust of wind hit them now and this wasn't from either of them. Temari hit the trunk of the tree, her head snapped back hitting the hard wood making her see stars. Naruto wasn't so lucky as he was blow off his feet and hit a rock. He groaned as he slowly got to his feet, he swore he heard a female voice call out something before another wind storm came up.

This one however seemed to cut the tops of the trees above him. Naruto looked up in surprise as several large logs of trees fell where he was standing.

The female figure that had done this looked on as the dust cleared, she nodded her head as she turned back to Temari. Said girl was slowly trying to get her vision to steady, she saw a female figure with a cloak walking towards her. She held a fan much like her own, she couldn't tell much else as the fan had been closed.

"I never thought we'd meet here Temari-chan," the female spoke and it was eerily familiar to Temari.

"Who…" She tried to speak as she tried to get back up on her feet.

The woman hit Temari in the stomach with the huge fan making the other girl fall to her knees coughing. "I'm hurt, it's only been three years and you've forgotten me already?" The woman pulled back the hood and Temari's face went pale as she could now see clearly enough the face that had been hidden. It was a woman not much older then her, with long flowing brown hair and smooth features.

Temari couldn't believe it, she never expected to see this face again. "S-Sempai!?"

**Next up chapter 25: Ghosts of the Pasts**

**Well bet no one saw this coming, I decided to go a bit more into Temari's past in this story and since so little is known I get to make up something cool that I hope you all enjoy.**


	25. Ghost of the Past

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 25: Ghosts of the Pasts**

Temari couldn't believe it was the same person in front of her, it had been over a year ago since she had last seen the older girl. Before her stood a young woman of seventeen, her long brown hair was tied off into a single long ponytail that fell behind the pulled down hood of the cloak. The large battle fan was closed but Temari knew that the pattern of a certain dessert flower would have been shown.

"Long time so see Temari," she said in a neutral tone. "I heard you got married, well congratulations I supposed even if it's only a political marriage. I hope that wasn't him I just killed."

Temari looked to where Naruto had gone and saw all the trees covering the area. It looked bad but she knew that something like that wouldn't kill Naruto. At least that was her hope, she also wanted to make sure that they didn't check to make sure Naruto was dead. So she glared back at the other woman.

"What are you doing here, Kimi-sempai? They told me that you had been killed on a mission," Temari demanded to know.

The woman only known as Kimi laughed, "So that's what they told you? Well I suppose you could have said that, to the village I am dead, or maybe I should say that the village of Suna is dead to me after what they did."

Temari could see the hatred in the woman's face and eyes, what could have happened to cause this in her. She still remembered the day she had met the older girl, back when she had just been starting out.

**-Suna, 4 years ago-**

Temari was nearly done her training to be made an official genin of Suna. She was proud of herself, she pushed herself to be the very best in her age range, even to those of a few older children as well. But it wasn't enough for her, she was a Kage's daughter so the demand on her was very high. But she didn't break under the pressure, in fact it was one of the few things she had in life. Her family was broken beyond repair, even at this young age she knew that much.

Her mother was long since dead, her father was a cold and distant man. Her brothers, well Kankuro wasn't too bad, but Gaara scared her. Hell, he scared everyone really but that was her lot in life and she would proudly bear with the weight of it all. At the moment they were looking at a large selection of weapons, they were told to pick something that they would be trained in. Temari however didn't have the slightest idea of what to pick.

By this point she had learned that she had wind nature affinity, so she was thinking of a weapon that would be for that. But what was best for that? Technically anything could be used to mould chakra, especially if a weapon was designed to admit the flow of chakra into them. But still, it was difficult for her as she knew next to nothing about weapons. Oh sure they were taught the basics but that didn't mean you knew how to handle them, how they felt in your hands in battle, and how comfortable you were with the weapons.

"Got a problem there Shorty?" said a female voice.

Temari got annoyed at being called that, she turned to see who would dare call her something like that. She saw a taller and older girl, by the headband on her forehead the girl was most likely a genin. There was something large on her back and she had a short ponytail for a hair style. She was also smiling at Temari like a Cheshire cat.

"What did you call me?" Temari asked in a serious tone, at least as serious as a young girl like her could.

"Oh did I make you a little mad, sorry," The girl said as she ruffled Temari's hair which only annoyed the younger girl more. "So then what's the issue, usually everyone knows what type of weapon they want to use."

"I'm trying to find something for wind chakra," Temari told the older girl annoyed.

"Oh?" She smiled as a look got into her eye. "I got the perfect weapon for that."

"What that big stick?" Temari said deadpanned.

Now the older girl looked irritated and that made Temari smirk. The older girl reached behind her and pulled the 'stick' out and unfolded it. It was a large fan with three flower pictures on it. "Let me show you how wrong you are little girl." With that she turned and waved the fan. A huge rush of air came out of the fan as a long cut was created into the ground. It was nearly twenty feet long and several of the people in charge were already yelling at her for doing something reckless like that.

"Kimi, what the hell were you thinking?" Another genin yelled out.

Kimi scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, "Oops sorry about that, just showing a kid how to use it."

Temari, although she wasn't sure she liked the older girl, had to admit that it had been very impressive. She had no idea that a fan could be used like that and it sparked her imagination. A fan like that in the right hands would be a very powerful weapon. She had wind nature chakra and a weapon like that might be perfect for her.

"How come I don't see that here?" Temari pointed to the vast supply of weapons shown on the long tables.

Kimi just smiled as he put away her fan, "Because not everyone can handle the weapon. It's a lot harder to use than most people think, in fact there's only a few battle fan users every generation in this village. But it's a proud lineage to belong to."

Temari could see that the older girl believed that from the sudden serious look on her face and especially in the eyes. Temari felt herself drawn for some reason, almost like destiny was calling out to her at this very moment. She looked back at the clean cut line in the ground, it really was a formidable weapon.

"I want to learn that then, will you teach me?" Temari said.

"Hell no," Kimi said.

Temari nearly face faulted at that, "Why the hell not?" she yelled at the older girl.

"I don't feel like wasting my time," Kimi said as she looked bored. "Most people wash out and honestly I got better things to do with my time. Although I doubt the few others would take you up on it."

"Do you know who I am?" Temari thought trying to play the Kage's daughter card. Although she really hated to use that, she wanted to prove herself but how could she when the girl wasn't going to give her a chance.

"Yep, still don't care," Kimi said with a shrug.

Temari wasn't sure if she was impressed that the older girl was going to go against her like this or pissed because it hadn't worked. Kimi looked down at the annoyed look on the younger girl's face and smirked. She did know who the girl was the daughter of but she believed in getting what you wanted from your own hard work. Although she was a bit worried on what might happen, but she had a feeling this girl wasn't as bad as the stories she had heard about Gaara. At least that was what she hoped.

Temari wanted to train in the fan not only because she was interested but if only to get this girl to do it. Temari hated to lose to anything and she wouldn't lose this.

"I want to learn and if you're too lazy to do it then I'll find someone else. Maybe someone even better," Temari said and grinned when she saw the other girl finally get angry.

"Hey I'm the best one there is and for your information I don't want to train someone that will most likely quit in the first week."

"I'll make it more than just a week," Temari said back glaring at her.

"Oh yeah? Well fine, let's just see how long you last." Kimi didn't realize she had fallen for that trick until later but when she did, Kimi swore that she would make the little brat pay. Temari had no idea just the kind of training that went with a battle fan but she would soon learn.

**-3 months later-**

"Hurry up Temari," Kimi called as she ran through one of the large mountain passes that was build into the natural barrier of their village. Temari was behind her panting heavily with a lot of sweat dripping down her face. The two of them always ran up these trails because it gave a good exercise. Kimi was doing a lot better but that was because she trained more. Temari who was now carrying her own iron fan wasn't used to the weight yet. Kimi told Temari, that in order to use such a large weapon you needed to get used to it. You had to take that weapon with you on any mission, into any battle and over long distances.

If you couldn't carry it then you would slow down your group and if you couldn't lift it after a hard run, well what use were you?

Temari however never said a word of complaint, she pushed on and on willing her body to move sometimes. Kimi had gotten to know the younger girl a bit better over the past few months. The young girl really was a truth kunoichi. She pushed herself harder than most boys, and it wasn't just because of her father it was because the girl actually wanted to be this good. That impressed Kimi a lot, although she never once said so. The girl didn't need an ego plus this way she got to play the 'bad guy' and force all kinds of horrible training methods that she herself had been forced to do.

Kimi now understood why she had been pushed like she had been, the battle fan was a rare art in their village but a proud one that the women who used it took seriously. Only women chose to use the fan for battle, most likely because most men thought it was too silly. Well those men usually were the ones that ended up on the other side of their fans. But still, to wield the fan wasn't easy. It took diligence, heart and iron will. But thankfully in Temari she saw all these things.

As they came to a shadowed area she felt it was time to stop. "Temari, we're going to take a break here."

"I…can…still…go on," Temari breathed out not wanting to look weak.

"Please you're barely standing and I'm not going to drag your body and your fan back." Kimi said as she sat down and took a sip of water. You didn't drink it whole in the dessert you made it last as you never knew when your next drink would come from. "Sit and drink girl."

Temari although she didn't say it, was thankful for the rest. Her back ached carrying her fan, her legs and lungs were burning and she felt a little light headed. The cramping told her that she was starting to dehydrate as well. At any rate she sat in the shade and took small sips of water.

The two girls enjoyed the shade as they felt the cool rocks sooth their bodies lightly.

Kimi was about to take another small sip when she heard someone behind them. She spun around and looked up, then she blushed lightly.

"Oh good reflexes," a boy her own age said as he was on a higher path only about six feet above them. He had a boyish smile and features, short dark hair that was cropped off in a wild haircut. He wore brown and dark clothing of light material as he jumped down to meet them.

"Kensei-kun!? What are you doing here?" Kimi said surprised.

"Just on a little sentry duty today," he explained. "I was making a patrol and saw you two jogging, So this is the Temari girl I've been hearing about. The Kazekage's daughter?"

Temari stood up as he looked over the older boy, she noticed how Kimi seemed to be acting a little different around him. In fact she noticed the slight blush forming on the older girl's face as the boy was pretty close. Temari got a small smirk on her face seeing this.

"Yes I am, so are you Kimi-sempai's boyfriend?"

Kimi looked both angry and embarrassed at that, giving Temari a glare and mentally cursing the girl. She was going to have gone easy but now she was going to tack on a few more miles to their run for this.

Kensei looked confused and then laughed as he placed his arm around Kimi whose face went totally red in that moment. "Well not yet, but I'm working on it."

"K-Kensei-kun!" Kimi yelled at him.

Temari could see she was going to have a lot of fun with this from now on. And she could get in some revenge for all this crazy training that Kimi was putting her through.

**-Nearly One Year Later-**

Temari was coming back from a small mission, it was just a small sentry patrol of the village, something that everyone did once in awhile as the village was to be defended. Sentry duty although being boring, was very vital so no one complained. Plus since it was still in the village, even genins like her could do it. Well she wasn't any normal genin, like the rest of her team. She was actually thankful for the break from her team mates. Kankuro was driving her nuts with his new project on some new doll of his that he claimed would be his greatest one yet. Plus there was also Gaara, she felt shivers running through her body, at first she had tried to be the sister to him.

But Gaara didn't look at her as a sister, when he did look at her with those cold nearly dead eyes she kept on asking herself, was this the day he killed would kill her? That constant stress wasn't good for her or Kankuro but they were the only ones that could work with Gaara. Or maybe she should say the only ones made to work with him. People had actually quit being a ninja rather than work with him and with good reason sadly.

She was thinking of going to see Kimi-sempai, the older girl was still reeling from the death of Kensei. Temari also felt heart ache for the death of that man. She didn't know all the details only that a few days ago while on a mission to investigate a group getting too close to the village he had been killed. Apparently it had been a group from another village spying most likely. She her senesi and Gaara had been sent with the team to back them up. Apparently there had been heavy fighting and casualties on either side.

Kensei had been one of them, she had never seen Kimi cry until that day, the next day Temari had been ordered on sentry duty.

She wanted to be there for Kimi though, in the time she had known her the two had become very close. But duty always came first for a ninja, so Temari would make for Kimi's place as soon as she could.

But while coming into the more populated areas of the village she noticed that a lot of people were rushing about. Something was going on that much she was sure of. She could feel how stressed the people were, so she ran towards the central building that was used as both office of the Kazekage and all related ninja matters. If anyone knew what was going on, then someone there would. She also kept an eye out for anyone she knew.

She had just nearly made it to the front door when she spotted her sensei walking out. She called out to him as he waited for her to get closer. "Baki-sensei, what's wrong?"

"There was an assassination attempt on Gaara," Baki told her, he didn't need to add 'another assassination' attempt as people have tired to kill Gaara as far back as a young child. Although it had been a long time since that last happened, mainly due to the fact that all the others had failed and then been killed.

Temari was surprised that anyone would even bother to try anymore, but she steeled herself to this long ago. Everyone knew that the assassins for the most part had once been ordered by her own father. She had once overheard him late at night once, angry at a failed attempt. That was when she first started to see her father for what he was and what he would do. But since Gaara had made genin they had stopped, mainly due that he was a weapon for their village now. The mission he was sent on were usually suicidal for a genin to be assigned but he always came back.

"I thought this had ended," Temari commented more to herself then to her sensei.

"This was an unofficial mission," Baki told her and Temari looked up in shock. If this wasn't an 'official' order that meant all involved if they even lived would face execution. "There is more, Temari how well did you know that girl Kimi?"

"Well enough," Temari was confused as to why he asked but she suddenly got a sick feeling in her stomach. "Why do you ask sensei?"

"She was one of the members trying to kill Gaara when he was on the north wall, I'm sorry but it looks like she was killed." Baki told her.

Temari didn't hear anything other than that, the one person she had outside of her normal family and team was dead. The person she had looked up to, that had inspired her to be what she was, the one that was the closest thing to a sister she ever thought in her life was now dead. Killed by her very own little brother because she had tried to kill him.

In the month that followed she tried to make sense of it all, why did Kimi try to kill Gaara? Sure there were many that wanted to but she had no reason for it. For awhile she had entertained that maybe her father had told them to but would deny any official mission if they were caught. It wasn't unheard of to be called up for missions like that. But still, it never made total sense. After that Temari closed herself off, she tried to become harder and steel her heart from the pain of that loss.

But still, she never forgot Kimi.

**-Present-**

"I was told that you were dead," Temari looked up at her mentor, the woman that was the closest thing she could call a sister in this world.

"In a way I did die that day," Kimi said with dead eyes as she thought back for a second on her past. But she came back into focus as she looked at Temari with naked hatred. "But when that stupid village took from me the best thing in my life and then wouldn't see justice done…it betrayed me. So I turned my back on that village and never once looked back."

"What are you talking about?" Temari was wondering what was going on. "Is this about Kensei?"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Kimi shouted at her. "You don't deserve to not given what your family did to him."

"My family?" Now Temari was even more confused but if she could get her talking it would also shed light on what had happened. It would also give her team time to get to this location.

"They didn't tell you?" Kimi said almost sarcastically. "I wasn't told at first either, but one of the survivors on the missions told me. Things were going fine, then you're little demon of a brother showed up, he saw all the blood on the sand and he apparently lost it. He killed anyone that got in his way, even our own people…even…"

Now Temari's eyes widened in horror as she knew what was coming. She had never known, sure she knew that Gaara had done some pretty horrible things in his time. Killed lots of people, even their own Suna ninja when they got in his way or when they tried to kill him. But she had never known about Kensei. She wanted to say something, but what could you say? It wasn't like she could just say 'sorry' and that would make it better. The truth was, she couldn't say anything at all.

Kimi looked at the blonde girl, "And now it looks like you're a leaf ninja now." She pointed at the new symbol Temari wore. "Hard to believe, but we'll talk later when you wake up."

Temari was about to ask what she meant but she saw the kick coming but she was too late to do anything. The kick was solid and connected to her head, there was a second of blinding pain and she thought she saw stars for a moment before the world spun and fell dark.

**-Kakashi and Natsu-**

The fight was going fairly roughly for Kakashi for the moment, he was a little out of practice with it came to swordplay. Sure he kept up the skills but it was different when you haven't used them in battle for awhile. Plus the person he was fighting was no amateur, normally in a fight like this if you couldn't take out the opponent you would gain some ground and use something like ninjutsu. This person however wasn't letting him, so this person was obviously smart.

Thankfully Kakashi was keeping pace but the other guy was dragging things out, letting the others on his team to have the time to get to this area. With his eye he could see where the man would strike and Kakashi was able to keep his kunai blocking or parrying it. But the other man was very quick and with the short swords his opponent had, the man kept them in short range combat and never gave Kakashi the chance to move far enough away to use ninjutsu skills. It was smart for someone that seemed to favour close combat skills. But the only problem was that the guy was very fast, so fast that Kakashi felt the blades managed to cut into his vest a couple of times.

He felt a light cut on one of his arms by this point, he wasn't sure when that happened but the stinging sensation was finally showing up. But it was mainly superficial, and the cuts on his vest weren't deep enough to get past it. The vest was created to protect you after all, the heavy material and the light armour plating in the front and back helped to stop things like blades. It wasn't perfect, the arm pits were exposed which was lethal to get stabbed in. The front of the neck was also exposed, the sides had weaker padding and the armour was mainly a plate on the back and something over the upper chest and it was very thin. The vest also limited your top speed, but veterans like Kakashi had trained to increase their speed to compensate.

But there was one other thing that Kakashi could do to keep up with the man, and that was the other skill of his present from Obito.

"You're copying my moves," Natsu said while grinning as he realized what Kakashi was doing. "So the rumors of the power of that eye were true. To tell the truth I'm actually glad, as a swordsman, this makes even better. There is nothing like fighting an opponent that only gets stronger as you fight."

"So I suppose you know how my eye can copy movement?" Kakashi asked.

"And also predict movement, which explains how well you've managed to keep ahead of me the entire time. Tell me, is it true those eyes can make you read minds or is that just a rumour from how the Uchiha could predict movement?"

Kakashi knew that there were many things said about the sharingan, many were from stories by enemies that had survived battles against the Uchiha, and some were most likely put out there by the Uchiha clan themselves. Disinformation was a very powerful weapon in the world after all. So Kakashi had a feeling this guy didn't know all about what the sharingan could fully do. Well he was running out of ideas at this point given the time he was wasting.

They locked blades as he managed to get eye contact with the other ninja.

"One thing you didn't know I bet," Kakashi told him.

"And what's that?" Natsu asked grinning. He never got an answer as something weird was going on with the sharingan eye. The small black totems were starting to spin, it was odd and he started to feel a sense of falling. He quickly knew that a genjutsu was being placed on him he broke eye contact and stabbed forward thinking he hit his target. However the image of Kakashi wavered and slowly disappeared.

"What the hell-AH!" He felt a sharp pain in the back of his skull before the world went dark.

Kakashi stood behind him breathing hard it was a simple genjutsu he had used. Mainly it only created an after image in the other person's eyes. It wouldn't really have worked against someone with more genjustu skill, but Kakashi had bet that the man had focused more of his time in sword fighting. Specializing like that always cost you in other skills, and he was glad that the other man had ended up not training in genjustu.

Kakashi didn't know many skills in that, his eye usually helped him to see through illusions not create them, but he had picked up a few tricks here and there. He pulled the kunai out of the man's skull letting him fall to the grass. He said nothing, as nothing needed to be said, as a ninja this was the fate of this life. They met, they fought, and only one would walk away. Kakashi had been through this countless times and he knew this wouldn't the last. He moved off from the battle, he had a mission to continue and a team to find.

**-Sasuke and Sakura-**

The two other members of Team 7 had it slightly easier then the others. That is if you call trying to rush through an area filled with lethal traps while trying not to get killed or mauled by them, easy. All too often they would have to chance course to avoid a trap or had been slowed down when one was set off. It had seemed their trap expert liked to experiment with various types of traps, even laying down fake ones that would take your eye off the real danger.

Sasuke was getting very annoyed at the whole thing, sure he was doing well but he felt that Sakura was slowing him down. Although his teammate had improved since Temari had joined the girl was still the dead last of their group. It was odd how Naruto used to be the king of that title, but even Sasuke had to admit that Naruto had grown in power since then. What he couldn't get was why Naruto had gotten so strong and why it had been so fast. The guy was an orphan, had no clan, no real talent and yet he had improved in leaps and bounds since becoming a genin. For someone like Sasuke that hurt his pride and for an Uchiha, pride was something that they held close to them.

By the time they did manage to reach the area where Temari and Naruto had last been seen, the place looked like a storm had hit it. There were blown over trees, the ground was torn up and two large piles of trees were there.

"What happened?" Sakura asked looking at the area. She had never seen Temari go all out like this before but she had an idea that this was Temari's handiwork. It was just a lot more powerful than what she had seen while training with the ex-Suna nin.

"Where are Naruto and Temari?" Sakura asked Sasuke as she started to look around for clues.

"I don't see them anywhere," Sasuke remarked as he scanned the area. He didn't see any obvious signs like blood from nasty wounds, or pieces of clothing. It was hard to tell what tracks were from what as the whole area was littered with damage making it hard to track. Plus neither of them were tracking experts, simple things they were taught in the academy but for this kind of challenge you needed someone with a lot more experience.

"Naruto! Temari!" Sakura called out, it was a risk to call out like that with possible enemies around, but she had to at least try and see if they could respond. She tried a few more times before she thought she heard something, it was faint but she thought it came from one of the two large piles of wrecked tree piles. She gently moved to it and called out again now that she was closer she could definitely hear something.

In fact it sounded like...

"Naruto is that you?" Sakura called out.

She heard a groan as something moved under the large log that Sakura was leaning on trying to see into the mess. She thought she caught a glimpse or orange under it all, finally all that loud orange finally seemed to pay off.

"Naruto are you okay?"Sakura asked him.

"My arm hurts...can't move it and I think I'm stuck," Naruto said as he tried to move but grunted in pain as his shoulder and arm flared up in pain. He tried to remember what had happened, the last thing that happened was that he and Temari had finished off that one guy and then a large wind happened. Then he woke up like this. "How's Temari-chan?"

"We're looking for her but we're not sure where she is," Sakura told him.

"Then get me out of here! Ow! Damn it that hurt," Naruto said as he tried to get out.

"Naruto don't move, we'll get you out of there," Sakura told him hoping that he would calm down before he hurt himself more. She looked around the place trying to see how they could move the pieces of trees. They were very large and she couldn't see where to even being. She looked to Sasuke hoping that he had an idea.

"Any ideas?" She asked him.

Sasuke looked at the pile and sighed, "Not sure this could take some time."

Sakura sighed as she hoped that Naruto would keep calm, "Naruto, looks like this might take a bit but just keep calm and we'll get you out okay?"

"Just hurry I think something is crawling up my shirt and I don't like it," Naruto told her. He tried not to worry about where Temari was and what could have happened to her. But as soon as he got out of this he was going to find her and get her back, and that was a promise.

**Up Next Chapter 26: Prisoner**


	26. Prisoner

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 26: Prisoner**

By the time Kakashi made it to where he found the rest of his team, Sakura and Sasuke were already trying dig Naruto out of the wreckage he was under. He had to admit, it was lucky that Naruto wasn't killed. If his head had been caught between two of those trunks, it would have been crushed and not even the Nine-Tails could have fixed that. It did have its limits after all. After he got a small and very short report while helping out he got an idea of what happened. Sakura and Sasuke had been slowed down by the traps and got here too late to help. Temari and Naruto had taken one member out but had been surprised by a wind user by the looks of things. Naruto said he didn't get a good look at things as he had been blindsided it seemed. Temari wasn't in the area and from what he could see in the tracks it was clear to him.

He called out his hounds to get them to track down Temari as he helped to dig Naruto out from the broken trees. They would be able to track them before they got too far away. While digging out Naruto he took noticed of the area as well. Looking at the signs of disturbance in the grass and ground, as well as other signs he saw.

Whoever the other person was, it was obviously female from the small and light footprints. Although she did seem to be carrying something heavy as the prints were deeper for a person of that kind of height and weight. Even on average size of the person he could estimate from the foot print, she was carrying some weight that wasn't her own. Maybe armour or a large weapon of some kind was his best guess. He had seen where Temari had most likely been sitting. This he got from the disturbance in the ground, as well as the damage to the bark of the tree she had been against. Then it looked like the female tracks got heavier, most likely from carrying Temari and her fan by that point. That was a lot of weight, which was a good thing for them. It would slow down the girl but if she caught up with her team, then they would be able to travel faster by splitting the load.

Well the enemy had been more prepared it seemed or maybe it was just bad luck they had run into someone with traps experience. If they had run into someone else, the battle would most likely had gone much differently and with the possibility of the enemy not being aware of them. Now that option wasn't there. Of course now that they had Temari things changed even more. They would have to chase after them now, Kakashi didn't abandon his teammates, not anymore at least. He made that mistake once and once was enough. Plus there was also the political fallout, Temari just happens to die on a mission outside the village away from witnesses so soon after the marriage? The trip to Snow had worried him at first but he thought that things wouldn't get too bad. Well that hadn't gone to plan either, thankfully things had turned out okay. Only now it was Temari that was captured and not Naruto this time around.

So if Temari were killed in this mission well it wouldn't be good. He was sure that there would be a number of people that would raise hell over that issue in both villages. Some in Suna would blame Konoha and it could hurt the new alliance as it was still very fragile.

He sighed, this was why Kakashi hated politics.

This was why Kakashi felt uncomfortable with this marriage deal, not only had it put Naruto in a tough spot but also made things harder for both villages is something were to happen to them. Well at least Naruto was happy with Temari, that was something that Kakashi was glad for. For too long he had to just observe Naruto from the shadows as he grew up. He knew who Naruto's parents were from the start, but he couldn't do anything. So he stuck to the shadows when he could to watch. He couldn't watch him all the time as he was highly busy, most likely the main reason he couldn't have looked out for the boy.

He also knew that Naruto wouldn't stop until they had Temari back. So Kakashi would see to it that the new Team 7 wasn't broken on its first major mission.

They finally managed to dig out Naruto as he was holding his shoulder. There was some blood on his lip, either from a split lip or something else. Kakashi couldn't see any open wounds, most likely healed by now, as well as any internal injuries. He looked at the arm and noticed from years of combat injuries that Naruto's shoulder was dislocated.

"Naruto I'm going to have to pop your shoulder back in. This will hurt for a moment, on three I'll do it okay?" Kakashi told him as he gripped his arm and shoulder.

Naruto didn't say anything he just nodded as he clenched his jaw. Kakashi could see the same look of determination that he had, when Naruto had plunged his own kunai into his hand to get the poison out of it.

Kakashi counted to one, then wrenched the arm back into the socket without even getting to the count of two. Naruto screamed out in pain for a second before glaring at Kakashi.

"What happened to two and three!?" Naruto asked him feeling his arm hurt but he could at least move it now.

"This way you don't flinch at three and it makes it easier to put back in. Plus when you're expecting pain it's the worse." Kakashi said with a shrug as Naruto pouted at the man, clearly not happy about it. "Now come on, we need to hurry and give chase but keep your guard up. We don't know how many there are left or what they have planned. But Temari is now bait for us, they'll try and use her against us."

"They better not harm her," Naruto growled out.

"Don't worry Naruto, we'll get her back." Sakura said trying to comfort him but he didn't say anything. He was too focused on getting back Temari.

Team 7 followed the trail, soon it seemed that the tracks they were following were met up with a few more. Kakashi counted a total of three now, there might be more but he felt confident that was their total forces for the ninja. There might be other surprises but nothing they shouldn't be able to handle. Along the way one of his dogs was running towards them. They paused as the dog came up to them. The dog had what Kakashi thought was a pair of sticks at first. But then the hound let them drop to the ground. They hadn't been on the ground for more than a second before Naruto ran towards them and took them. He grimaced as he felt the dog's slobber on them but he didn't care, he knew what they were.

They were the smaller fans that he gave Temari as a present.

"These belong to Temari-chan's," Naruto said looking at the small battle fans. He still remembered how happy she had been with his gift, the first real gift he had given someone too.

"Was this dropped by Temari to show us the way or dropped by the ninja to lure us in?" Sakura asked Kakashi.

"Could be either one honestly, but let's hurry. They can't be too far ahead of us by this point." Kakashi said as they traveled on. Naruto putting the fan into his equipment pouch, he was sure to give this gift back to Temari when he got the chance.

**-Cain's Headquarters-**

In the large grounds hidden in a forest stood the compound where the criminal known as Cain held his seat of power. However he was not happy with the report he had just gained from the ninja he had hired. He had been looking over reports and giving out orders when a messenger gave him a short report from the leader of the rogue ninja group. What he read wasn't something he was pleased with, two ninja were dead. Too bad that wouldn't lower the price for their services. Thankfully they weren't asking for more payment, but at this moment he was wishing they would. He had left his office as he made his way down the halls.

The place had once been home to a small time lord from Wave who fell on hard times. Mostly due to gambling problems and the place had to be sold off. After Gato died, Cain had given time setting this place up. It was like a small fortress, which was perfect for him. It also held a small dungeon, which was where he was heading now. He found the door to the lower levels, the cold dark stone was there to meet him as he carefully walked his way down passing guards. He came to one of the few cells with the ninja gathered there arguing over what to do with their prisoner.

He case a look and saw a young blonde teenage girl chained up to the floor. She looked a little beat up but nothing major. He wasn't shocked or anything by her age, hell he had seen younger boys in street gangs killing each other off. So a young ninja like this was nothing to him.

"I still say we should kill her for what she did to Gin." Said a young woman with long red hair. She wore a large black cloak with a hood with strange paint on her face. It was all white with red marking making her look like some kind of doll. Cain thought she was the one called Yoko.

"Because she's bait," Goro the large leader said to her. "They'll come to us now."

"So?" Yoko asked him. "With Natsu and Gin gone we're at a loss. Plus it's not like they'll know she's dead either."

"Idiot," Kimi said to her who was resting against a wall looking bored. "After this we can ransom her to Suna or Konoha. Given how important she is, or even use her death to start a war between them. If you paid attention more to world events you would know this. Personally I would rather whatever hurts Suna gets my vote."

"Wow, that's so cold of you. Wasn't that your village before?" Yoko teased only to get a glare from the older girl.

"That village is dead to me," Kimi said coldly.

Cain felt it was time to address his hired help as it were. "Goro, I thought I hired you to take care of that Wave village. And what do I get? This page saying that you were defeated and only managed to take one hostage?"

Goro, even though a large man, could see that Cain wasn't one to cower before him. That was a rare thing but most likely because his current employer wasn't weak like most criminals. Even though the other man's tone wasn't condescending he could hear the annoyance in it. "It was a tactical loss, I didn't expect a seasoned opponent. They came at use from the sides instead of a stealth move up the middle of our formation."

"The girl is only the bait to lure them here, plus we're keeping her alive as a dead hostage is no good if they want proof." Goro cast a look to Yoko who just sniffed at the last comment.

"But why here?" Cain asked of him feeling slightly angered that the man would use his place for this. "I do have other areas under my control that you could have used. And now that team is most likely on their way here. I can't have a battle here of all places."

Goro just shrugged, "This is the best defended area, plus all the men you have here will be used to slow down and weaken the enemy force."

"You're not using my men as cannon fodder, you don't get to make that choice!" Cain told him.

"We're at a numbers disadvantage," Goro said calmly. "We need to weaken them down, then we can take them out. When we do you can do what you want with the girl. Maybe you can ransom her back to Suna or something, it would make up for any damages. After her team is taken care of, we no longer need her, then we'll get back to the mission at hand."

Cain thought about that, sure he didn't like to waste resources. It took time and money to get good help and to train up his people. He didn't like the thought of throwing them away just to weaken a small group. But this small group were ninja and he knew that in a fight his men couldn't stand up to that. They were too well trained, too experienced and too powerful for normal people to take on. Plus looking at the Suna girl who was quietly looking at them with a cold look, there might be some profit in it. If she was important and it was found out he had a hand in her death, he want a village posting a bounty on his head.

But to ransom her back, well that could be something else entirely. She might want revenge for being captured and her team killed. But honestly, she wouldn't be able to unless it was an official mission. Ninja got captured and ransomed before, it was rare but it did happen if the person was important enough and they didn't have to kill said person.

He might make enough profit to cover his losses, maybe even a bit more if he was lucky enough. "Fine then, but be sure you kill these other ninja. Then we can ransom the girl back and be done with it." Cain told his hired ninja.

Meanwhile, Temari had been watching silently the entire time. She was taking mental notes on everything she could. She had been doing since she first woke up in this cell.

The first thing she noticed was that she was sitting down and chained up in a dark, stone cell. Her cold ass told her that she had to have been sitting there for a while. She had first felt a moment of panic before her training kicked in. She had to remain calm and steady, she had to escape that was her first duty. She noticed that they had stripped her of her gear. Plus her arms were shackled above her head. She couldn't move them and her shoulder that had been injured, was now screaming out at the rest of her body.

Then the others had come in. She had kept quiet as they had argued over what to do with her, thankfully they seemed to be in a hurry. That meant they didn't have time to get any kind of information out of her about her team. She was thankful for that, not as if she could have said anything anyway. But if she had been physically tortured it would have given her troubles escaping. She didn't fear that, as a ninja it was expected when captured, she just got lucky this time.

When the others had finally left and for some reason Kimi was still there against the wall. Now that it was just them Temari felt it was time to get some questions answered.

Temari looked at the women across from her through the bars of the door. "I was told you were dead, but it seems that was a lie to me for some reason."

Kimi looked at her for a moment, "Not totally Temari. When I learned what that monster you call a brother did, I went to the Kazekage. I begged and demanded that Gaara be punished for his actions and you know what? I was told to forget it, to leave it alone." The contempt on Kimi's face and in her voice was all too clear.

"They said that Gaara was too valuable as a weapon. They said that those that got in a way should have been more careful. They talked about those that died like they were nothing, they treated them like nothing, they treated _him_ like he was nothing! He wasn't 'nothing' to me, and when they told me to go I couldn't take it anymore."

"They just shrugged it off as though it hadn't happened, but to those left behind it we couldn't stand for it. We found out that they sent Gaara out alone to keep him away from others just in case he was feeling more bloodthirsty. So we went to finally finish off that monster." Kimi rubbed her arm as though an old injury was acting up. "We thought we could surprise him...we were wrong. He slew us like we were nothing to him. I was knocked off the wall, I don't know how far I fell or how many times I smashed against the wall before I blacked out."

"One of the people who were sympathetic to us found me, he told me I was a mess and barely alive. He told the others I had been killed by the fall, I guess I looked bad enough to pass that off." Kimi pulled her sleeve to show many ugly looking scars on the skin. "I woke up a month later from a coma, my body was a mess and I found I was hidden in someone's home. They cared for me until I was healthy enough to leave. I was listed as dead in the village, and so if I showed my face I would be executed. So one night at a shift change I left the village and you know what? I never looked back. That village took from me the only man I've ever loved, the best thing in my life."

Temari could see all the anger and pain in Kimi's eyes and voice. She wanted to tell her she was sorry that it had happened that she never wanted any of this to happen. That Gaara had changed and he wasn't the monster he used to be. But it all died in her throat, how could she tell her any of this? The woman had lost everything she had every right to be angry. There was nothing she could say to take any of the pain and suffering the woman had gone through. Her heart broke because she knew that her brother and father were to blame for her pain.

There was no way to make up for it, no way that she could take it all back. There was an ugly silence there between them. Kimi seemed to tired of it and left Temari alone in the dark dungeon like area.

Temari watched as the woman who had shaped her life walked away. She listened to the foot steps going up the stone steps. Temari closed her eyes as she listened to everything around her, she counted her heart beats as well. Once she was up to a hundred and after hearing no other noise then her heart and her breathing she knew she was alone. Now it was the time for action. She looked up to get a better look at how her arms were chained up.

She could tell that the manacles on her writers were held above her head. Also the chain to the wall was so short that she couldn't move her arms all that much. This prevented her from moving from her sitting position. It was an effective way to keep a ninja restrained. She could hardly move and she couldn't use hand seals as her hands were too far apart. Her fingers could only just barely touch each other the way they were at the moment.

She looked to one of her shoes and smirked seeing that they had missed something when they searched her. After that mission to Snow Country, she had asked Naruto how he had gotten out of a cell with that chakra draining device on his stomach. He had shown her a trick of his, of how he had placed a hidden file in his shoe. Seeing how effective it had been, she had asked him to show her how to modify her shoes for the same reason.

The only problem was getting at it. Because of her limited ability to move her arms and that she was in a sitting position it wouldn't be easy. Hell, most people wouldn't be able to, but thankfully she just might be agile enough for it. She took a few breaths to calm herself as she slowly moved her leg up and then bent it towards her. It wasn't easy getting her foot to her mouth, but she was flexible. Temari managed with her teeth to pull off the small cap where the file was. With her tongue she got the small metal ring and managed to pull it out. Thankfully too, it was starting to hurt to be in that position and with her arms stretching as they were, it was hard to breath like this.

Now the only problem was getting it to her one of her hands. Thankfully her shoes exposed her toes and with her large toe and the one next to it, she slowly managed to grip it. It was a lot harder to get it to her hands. The way her body was bending she couldn't get any air into her lungs but she pushed on. She felt her joints starting to protest but when one of her hands felt the small metal piece she gripped it. Her leg fell back down as she took a much needed breath.

"Thank you Naruto," She whispered out as she started to make slow progress with the chain on one wrist. She might not be able to get the shackles off but she could cut them off the chain.

**-Outside Cain's Headquarters-**

Team 7 arrived at the edge of the forest as they looked at the compound. Kakashi took a very long and careful look at the place. He could see armed men walking the perimeter, they were on the ground and on the walls. He was surprised by the place that they had come across it, he hadn't expected something like this out here. He took note of how the guards were stationed, whoever was organizing this knew a bit about security. The guards always seemed to keep one group in sight of another. There also seemed to be those on the wall that looked at the guards on the ground. If they were counting the groups that would make things difficult, as taking one group out would alert the guards pretty fast.

They needed to plan this out carefully, he had a good idea of what the other team was up to. They were going to use these men to wear them down making it easier for them to take out Team 7. At least that's what Kakashi would do in their place, you had to fight smarter not harder. So if he had to play their game, he wasn't going to make it easier for the other side. Sure the enemy had numbers but numbers could also be used against you.

'_Then again,'_ Kakashi thought looking at Naruto. _'We have an army all our own, I don't think they know our full skills.'_

He could see that Naruto was just barely holding himself from rushing down there and causing all kinds of chaos. But that would be very dangerous, but maybe he could use Naruto's energy for another plan.

"Everyone, get out your smoke bombs and your paper bombs as well," Kakashi said as he dug into his vest for them. He needed to see what they had to work with, but they should have enough. Seeing what they had, he split half of them and gave them to Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei what do you want me to do with these?" Naruto asked him wondering what he had in mind. It was a lot of explosive power he was holding in his hands.

"We'll have to wait until dark," he raised a hand to cut off Naruto's protest when he saw it coming. "Naruto we have a better chance at getting to her at dark. We'll use that to our advantage, they won't be able to see that well at night and also this will be a lot easier to do what you do best."

"Huh, what I do best?" Naruto asked, "What's that?"

"Being unpredictable and causing chaos," Kakashi smirked.

Sasuke snorted at how accurate that was, mainly the last part. Naruto glared at the Uchiha, normally he'd yell at what he thought was so funny but he knew better than to yell while hiding like this.

"So you want Naruto to use all that as a distraction?" Sakura guessed as Naruto knew how to make a lot of noise and cause pandemonium.

"Well not him personally, but his shadow clones will," Kakashi started to explain the plan. Naruto would create a lot of clones and get them in position around the entire compound. They would set off smoke bombs and explosions and harass the guards. This would give the illusion that they would be under attack by a bigger force, plus all of the confusion would make it much simpler to slip into the compound. They would wait until night fall and then the clones would start the attack. It would also give Kakashi time to see the patrol routes and pick an area that would have the least amount of guards.

"Everyone understand the plan?" Kakashi asked.

Everyone nodded as Naruto called up his clones and gave them their orders. He looked to the sky, they only had a couple of hours of sun left. It would be a long wait for him, but he was here and he was going to get Temari out of there. And if they harmed her in any way, he was going to make them pay for it ten times as much.

When night did fall the forest the guards did their shift change. Out on the wall one of the guards yawed as he made his way to the position. He hated the night shift, it was boring and it was hard to sleep enough during the day. He tried to get put onto the day shift, but the jerk of a boss hated him. This was not the glamorous life of being part of a criminal empire that he imagined. But what was he to do? He stole that money from his temple in his home town when he left that dead beat place. Not like he could go back and sweat it out in this old man's shop for the rest of his life. He'd rather die than do that crap.

Besides it was so much easier and more fun taking what you wanted. So he joined up with this group as he soon as he could. It wasn't all bad, when they got days off him and the boys went to the villages and raised hell and visited the good spots in the red light areas of the bigger cities.

The other thing he hated about the night shift was that it was boring as hell, you could hardly see anything, the noises in the forests didn't help either. You weren't sure if it was an animal or if someone was out there, it got old and it sucked when it rained. So when he got to his post and everything went dark he sighed. Another boring night sitting here on the wall, it was only an hour later when the first few explosions happened. Several large explosions in the woods around them happened almost at the same time. Then suddenly a few explosions hitting the walls, thick smoke was rolling in from several areas. Men were shouting out orders, alarm bells were ringing. Men were shouting out attacks over the sounds of explosions and then screaming.

He had no idea what was going on, everything was happening so fast, how many were there out there? A man next to him screamed in pain as what looked like a shuriken was imbedded into his arm. A kunai hit a spot further away as the explosive tag on it went off. Parts of the stone walls were blasted away as the chunks flew off hitting the others who were standing too close. The rocks were like little missiles as they hit the unfortunately men. It was pure chaos as those in charge tried to establish some order. Groups were sent into the forest to find and kill the attackers, while archers were called up to the walls. By that time it getting hard to see, smoke from small fires mixed in with that from smoke bombs. Some areas men couldn't see what was happening and were panicking.

While all this happened, Team 7 silently made their way to one of the walls. It was one of the less defended areas, as many of the guards there had left to reinforce the walls being attacked. They ran silently as they quickly ran straight up the walls. These weren't built with ninja in mind, these walls were build to keep out bandits or enemy forces. To a ninja, these walls were just a small hurdle to get over and wouldn't slow them down much. When they reached the top only three guards were there, with a surprised look on their faces as four people jumped over the wall.

They didn't even get a chance to shout out a warning before they were taken out.

Kakashi looked over the area, he saw two main entrances and he figured that anyone being held prisoner would be in the most hard to get to place. It would either a tower or a dungeon by his experience. He nodded to Sakura and Sasuke, they had planned this out earlier that they would split into two groups. They would find Temari and then deal with Cain. If they found any enemy ninja they were to avoid them if possible, especially if they were outnumbered.

As the two groups left they never once noticed another shadowy figure go up the wall behind them. The form looked around and then started to follow one of the two groups. With all the chaos around them it was easy to follow without being noticed.

**Next up Chapter 27: Breakout**


	27. Breakout

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 27: Breakout**

The entire complex was up in an uproar, there were explosions all about, fires were starting in several areas, men shouting out orders. It was pure chaos and it was the perfect cover for a group of ninja to infiltrate the complex. Sasuke and Sakura made good time as they traveled the hallway they entered. They did come across the occasional guards, but low grade criminals were no match for ninja. Even a genin knew more about fighting than the average criminal, as ninja train to fight and kill as children.

Sakura was keeping up but she could tell that Sasuke was rushing things. Although she wanted to hope it was to find Temari. Sakura herself wanted to find the older girl quickly, although it had been only a short time since Temari had been place on their team, Sakura looked up to the older girl. Sakura really didn't have anyone to look up to as a female ninja, there weren't many that she even knew. But Temari was everything that Sakura wished she could be, strong, powerful and full of confidence.

Since training with the older girl, Sakura had felt that she had become stronger but still had a long way to go. Also, Temari was someone that Sakura considered not only a comrade but a friend. There was no way she was going to let a friend behind either.

Sasuke however was keeping an eye out for the enemy ninja. Although he was told not to engage if possible, if there was no other way to fight then there didn't seem to be an issue with him. Plus he got the feeling that his group might be a strong group. It took both Naruto and Temari to defeat one of them, and in response both were defeated by another. To him that said that this group had to be strong and it was only fighting strong opponents that Sasuke could see where he was. He needed to test his strength and power, he needed to see how far he had come and how much farther he needed to go.

He needed power to kill Itachi, as he was now he knew that he couldn't do it. He was still too weak but he wouldn't be weak forever. One day he would catch up to his brother and make him pay for killing their clan, their family. For turning his world to ash and darkness, he would ensure that Itachi paid tenfold for every agonising day that Sasuke had to live since that day.

They soon found themselves into a large room, it looked to have been once been a meeting room of some kind only converted into some kind of room for the people that worked here. There were tables that looked out of place, like they were from some other room. Cups and dishes were still on the table. It looked like the guards used this to eat as well as relax. There were countless playing cards and dices. The place smelled of tobacco and alcohol, but there was oddly very little light around the area. The lamps were mostly blown out and heavy shadows filled the room. It was the perfect place for an ambush and Sasuke could feel the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up.

Every instinct he had was telling him that someone was in here with them.

"Sakura, get out of here as fast as you can." Sasuke told her scanning the room.

"What, but were told to stick together." She protested.

"Damn it get out of here now, hurry and find Temari." He yelled at her thinking he saw movement in one of the shadows. He activated his eyes and got into a fighting stance.

Sakura knew what was going on as she pulled a kunai, "I'm not leaving you."

Sasuke hissed out in annoyance. "Will you just go, you're no help to me here. I'll hold this one off but in case Naruto and Kakashi are busy then who will save Temari?" He figured using that would get the girl moving. He could see her hesitating. "Look you're not strong enough to help me with this, you'll only be in the way so get going."

He didn't see just how hurt she was from his words, she had been trying so hard to get stronger but it seemed it wasn't enough. He didn't recognize her as strong, and she felt crushed that his view of her hadn't changed at all. A part of her wanted to stay and fight and show him that she wasn't as weak as she had been. But there was always that part of her mind, that part that was the little girl that had been bullied and would always have doubts about herself.

The part that always said she wasn't good enough or strong enough, and after hearing his words that part of her mind was louder than it had been in awhile.

"Are you sure?" She asked him softly.

"Yes, now go before it's too late." He said without hesitation.

Sakura didn't want to leave him but he had a point, they needed to save Temari. But she didn't want to leave her teammate behind either. She knew that for a ninja the mission came first, but didn't Kakashi tell them that those that abandon their allies are worse than trash? She didn't have to make the final choice however when a shadowy figure came out of the darkness and attacked her.

Sakura jumped back as her back was close to one of the doors that led out of the room. The figure looked like a cloak wearing person with white and red face paint. She couldn't make out much more than that. But she also didn't have time to, the figure fired several kunai at her nearly missing her.

"Sakura get Temari and then come back, I'll hold this one off now get going!" Sasuke said angrily as he used a fire jutsu to try and burn the ninja from behind. Sakura saw it coming and had to run through the door and immediately turned and hid behind the wall. She saw the flames and felt the heat from the attack. She was about to see if he was okay, but the door suddenly slammed shut.

Sakura was surprised, she went to try and open it but it was a thick door and it seemed to be sealed shut.

Sasuke however was already looking to see if the ninja escaped or not. He didn't think that they had time to use a substitution jutsu but you could never be too careful. The flames were still there slowly dying but nothing else was scene, except for a burnt out cloak. He felt a rush of air and quickly dodged to the side to avoid the woman attacking him from behind.

He leaned back to avoid a blade coming out of the dark cloak nearly decapitating him. He threw a kunai through the cloak and it should have hit the body. But instead it seemed to pass through it. She quickly went into the shadows and then appeared out of the opposite end of the room.

That black cloak and dark hair made sure she blended into the darkness really well. She seemed to glide forward towards him. He got ready with another kunai as three more forms came out from opposite ends of the room, to his left and right. He had to fight three of these phantoms at once. They moved quickly and he felt a cut form on an arm, it wasn't deep and it would sting later but he could ignore it. The thing was, they felt off. The blows didn't feel normal and when he kicked in, it was like there was nothing there.

Finally he managed to get out of the way and got some breathing space. The figures seemed to move back and merge back into the shadows.

"How does it feel little boy? Do you like my genjustu?"

"Genjustu?" Sasuke repeated as he looked around. That didn't make sense, his eyes should be able to see through any and all genjutsu. How could she use one? Plus he couldn't see their movements like with a normal person, so they weren't people with the same look. Something was off here, and he wasn't sure what.

"That's right my genjustu allows me to attack you but you can't attack me." The ninja Yoko said to him. She started to attack again as more and more versions of her seemed to come out of the darkness. Sasuke fought on, trying to keep ahead of her. It wasn't easy, he could only make out attacks just as they were coming but he couldn't see past this genjustu of hers, which should be impossible. As he fought on, he realised that she was starting to wear him down.

Then a strange thing happened, music filled the air and not just any music either. Someone was playing a flute by the sounds of it.

"What the hell, whose there?" Yoko demanded to the darkness. A young woman's laughter was heard as the music stopped.

"And here I thought the great Uchiha would have seen through you're trick." Said the voice echoing off the walls. "Haven't you seen past her trick yet you moron? Here's a tip, she's not using genjutsu at all."

"What?" Sasuke looked again at the figures. They all looked the same but it was true that a genjutsu he should have seen through. But the woman kept insisting it was a genjustu, which meant that she was lying the entire time. Sasuke felt like kicking himself for letting himself fall for one of the ninja basic fundamentals, deception. So the question was, besides who the hell was in here with him, was how this woman was doing it.

"Oh come on, it's easy once you think it through."

"Shut the hell up!" demanded Yoko into the darkness. She didn't like anyone pointing out how her trick worked.

"Bite me you bitch."

"What did you say!?" Yoko yelled out getting distracted.

Sasuke took advantage of this distraction and threw out half a dozen shuriken. Although they weren't normal ones, these had ninja wire attached to them. They flew over the area, some going through the figures while others went close to them. Yoko wasn't sure what he was up to as one of her forms had to dodge one of the deadly little blades. Sasuke grinned, that was the one he wanted. With his one hand he put the ends of the wires into his mouth and used a flame jutsu.

The flame travelled with the wires, one wire had at least pierce the 'chest' of one of the 'illusions', but he knew these weren't illusions. The flames spread out in a web, making it nearly impossible to avoid. The figures went up in flames as only one of them cried out in pain. She held her arm as she had been burned by the flames.

What he saw was that the heads were puppets with slim skeletal structure. That's why they moved so fast, they hardly had any weight to them. Plus with so little to hit under the cloaks, it would be easy to miss the actual body parts.

"So looks like you did figure out her little trick," came the female voice again. "I do have to admit, using puppets to pose as a genjustu is a nice little trick you got there. I hope that you at least have a backup because that boy will kill you otherwise."

"Whose side are you on?" Yoko screamed as she threw away her cloak. She saw that half of her puppets were useless and she couldn't use her burnt arm.

"I'm on my side," The girl returned. "I don't care if you live or die. I'm only here to make sure he doesn't die and the rest...well it's not your fucking business anyway."

Yoko cursed the girl out as she called her remaining puppets. They detached apart, each one having the disguise fall away leaving the wooden true forms appear. They seemed to attach themselves to Yoko, almost like body armour against her body. Blades stuck out in key places as her entire body was covered.

"I'm going to kill you, after I kill him," Yoko said taking a step forward. "Now that I'm not going to be subtle I can use my Puppet Armour. The armour is thick enough to take a lot of punishment boy and if you think this makes me slow, think again."

She moved at Sasuke with incredible speed, he couldn't avoid the kick as it sent him flying off into a few tables. Yoko laughed even though she was in pain, the downside to this jutsu was that using the enhanced speed and strength. She was using her puppet skills to move the armour itself at the speed. Her body was just going along for the ride but the strain it put on her body was hard. Too much and she could injure herself even more.

"Face it, you're not strong enough to beat me boy," Yoko laughed but then the tables seemed to explode outward. There stood the boy but with strange black markings covering half his body. The sound of birds chirping could be heard as Sasuke had a chidori ready for her. She would have to take the hit and then counter attack with her fist. Given that with the armour her fists could hit like sledge hammers, one good hit to the head and that's all she needed.

Unfortunately she didn't know that the chidori was an assassination technique, designed to pierce through practically anything. Sasuke ran forward and then ran her through. She gave a surprised outcry before her voice was cut off. She tried to move but her body refused to. Sasuke pulled his bloody hand out of her chest leaving her to fall to the floor dead.

He stood there catching his breath as he heard clapping. He looked to see a girl, about his own age with red hair walking towards him. "Well I hate to admit when I'm wrong but you actually might not be totally worthless after all."

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Someone that can teach you more about the curse seal," She answered as black markings of her own showed up on her body. "You're doing well do far but you have only just scratched the surface. There is a lot more power in it than you know."

"You're with Orochimaru." Sasuke stated fitting it all into place. "You're the one that was following me earlier in town weren't you?"

She paused for a moment, caught off guard by that. She thought she had been pretty good to not let him see her. "Well yes that was me. Tell me, do you truly want real power? Because I can help, I can show you everything I know about that seal and then some. I was sent to offer you a choice."

"You can learn to do this on your own, or I can teach you things you'll never know on you're own."

"What's the catch?" Sasuke asked knowing that Orochimaru wanted him.

"I'm only to show you what's possible under Orochimaru-sama. If you want more power then I'll lead you to him. But that means you have to leave the village, if you're happy being compared to that orange wearing idiot fine by me. At the rate he's going he's going to surpass you." Tayuya smirked seeing the dark shadow that seemed to come over Sasuke's eyes.

"So...what do you say?" Tayuya asked him.

**-Lower Cells-**

Temari heard the sounds of battle outside her cell. She knew that her team would come but she had to work harder to get out of the cell. It had taken a good half an hour to cut her hands free. Although she still had manacles on her wrists, at least she wasn't chained to the wall anymore. Thankfully they hadn't chained her feet together. Now she just had to pick the lock of her cell, this time it was something she had picked up. She reached into her hair and pulled out a couple of hidden metal pick she kept there. If people only knew the kinds of things she could hid in her hair like that.

After all, a ninja made full use of everything, even their appearance usually had some meaning or reasoning behind it. She was already working on trying to pick the lock. She could had tried for the shackles on her wrists but if the metal broke she would be screwed. So first the door, although it wasn't easy, she had only done this enough times to get the basic idea out of it. She hadn't kept up the practice or learned about more complicated locks. That was something she would look into after this, if this ever happened again, she vowed to be more prepared.

She was just lucky they hadn't searched her hair or taken her shoes. Hell, some times a prisoner would be stripped naked to ensure nothing was hidden on their bodies. Thankfully that hadn't happened. Only her husband would ever get that privilege. A bang of worry hit her, was Naruto alright? He had taken a large hit and although she had faith in him, she was still worried.

Temari shook her head and berated herself for doubting him, she told herself that she would get out of here and see him again. She went back to work and finally after a lot of effort and swearing she managed to get it open. So now she was free, now she needed to find her fan, her equipment if possible, and meet up with the others while avoiding detection.

Sounded like a challenge to her, she grinned at that thought. She did so love a challenge.

**-Courtyard-**

Kakashi and Naruto were taking a short cut over open ground. Sure it was risky but with everyone attention looking outside it made it easier. They were heading towards the main building. The courtyard was mostly grass with a stone path. There were a few decorative statues but nothing worth noticing. A few low hedges and just the usual stuff you'd expect in one of these places. Although when they got near the door they found that it was already someone waiting for them. There in the door way, with two torches on either side for light, was standing a huge man with a cape and a nasty looking weapon.

Kakashi saw that the weapon was a Kanabo, a large eight sided club made from solid oak with metal studs all over the sides. It was a heavy but brutal weapon, something that would shatter bones and organs with a single hit. And given the size of the man and the force that could be used behind it, Kakashi was going to have to make sure to keep his distance.

Kakashi threw several smoke bombs quickly to give Naruto some cover. The large man swung his weapon in an arc through the smoke. He felt a few hits, which was odd since there were only two of them. That is until a few Naruto clones came out and grabbed the man. The real Naruto jumped up high, stepping on the man's head and using that to spring himself over and through the doorway. Goro easily managed to get the clones off him as they dispelled.

At least Goro had an idea as to why there were so many attackers, but all of those from just one boy? He didn't think that was possible, if it was then the boy's chakra would be higher than most ninja in the entire world. But regardless he would have to get the boy later if the rest of his team didn't. Now he had to deal with Kakashi first, that man was the most dangerous out of the group.

Goro calmly waited for the first move, as the smoke cleared he saw a few shuriken being thrown at him. Most likely thinking that would work but there was something that Kakashi didn't know. Goro swung his weapon as easily as though it weighed nothing, smashing the small metal objects. He saw that Kakashi was finishing up a jutsu of his own as those had just been a distraction.

Well Goro had a surprise for him, he dropped his weapon as he started his own hand seals. Thankfully he could do this jutsu in his sleep.

Kakashi let loose a large blast of fire, he knew it would be seen from the walls but battling this man would get anyone's attention anyway. So it would be best to end this quickly, as he could and then get inside out of the line of sight before that happened. The flame enveloped a wide area, there's wasn't much in the way of getting away from that kind of attack. As the flames died down he was surprised by what he saw. There was now a large wall of red hot rock protecting the ninja.

For a moment nothing happened and then Kakashi felt a small tremor in the ground. He knew this jutsu that was about to happen, with only a split second to get himself save he jumped out of the way. He just managed to make it when a large hand came out of the ground just missing his foot. Soon the large man erupted out of the ground and swung his massive weapon at Kakashi.

The large weapon passed by so close that he could feel the wind as it passed by his face as he dodged it.

"Not bad but let's see you dodge this," Goro said as he thrust the top of his weapon into the ground. Suddenly a dozen sharp sword like objects, that were made from the earth itself came from the ground. Kakashi guessed that the weapon could be used to make earth type jutsus like how Temari used her fans. But this created more and more of these earth blades from the ground. Kakashi had to keep moving or else suffer being impaled. Already he felt two of the blades cut into him. One grazed his thigh, thankfully it didn't get a clean hit but the one that got an arm had been better.

He gritted his teeth feeling the sharp stone and earth cut into the flesh of his left arm. He needed to end this a lot quicker if he wanted to survive. Already he could hear shouts from the walls as the guards were noticing what was going on.

Goro grinned to himself, his earth spires were a very nasty jutsu when you were stuck on the ground. That's why he picked this wide open space, there was no high ground to escape. He saw Kakashi moving through the gaps, and he was injured. With his weapon he smashed through his rock spires as he made his way to Kakashi. He jumped on top of a flat edge to gain some height. Goro had managed to get just the right angle as he came down on top of Kakashi.

The masked Konoha ninja only had time to turn and face him before the weapon crushed in his skull. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen. Instead, Kakashi turned into smoke and it was only then that he realized his mistake. He had lost sight of Kakashi long enough for the man to make a shadow clone. It was then he felt the cold steel on his neck.

Goro chuckled a bit, "Damn I never even heard you coming up behind me. You really are deserving of your reputation."

"Last requests?" Kakashi asked, he didn't normally give them but this guy had surprised him with that jutsu. He was glad to have copied it, it might come in handy later on.

"Just tell them that Goro of the Broken Earth died well." He simply stated before Kakashi cut this throat. It didn't last long as Kakashi quickly turned the kunai and plunged it into the base of the neck. Making sure to kill him as quickly as possible, there was no need to prolong death in such a way. He could only hope someone showed him the same mercy if his time came.

**-Naruto-**

Naruto had no idea where he was going, any enemies he came across he just beat up and left behind him. He sent out a few clones in other directions to show him where things were, but all this use of clones was starting to put a strain on him. The clones outside attacking were at half strength, the enemies had been attacking his clones with whatever they could find. Granted most of the criminals had been beaten but Naruto was starting to feel it. He hadn't really used this many shadow clones for this amount of time. Normally he used a lot for short periods or a small number for long periods.

All the stuff they had been doing was catching up to him.

Looking around the place it all seemed the same to him, the same wooden floors, the same red pillars with gold trim. Nothing really stood out and he was just taking one turn into another. He finally seemed to have found his way into some central area. There were some large stone statues of some kind of figures. He didn't know who they were supposed to be, then again if it wasn't about ninja in school he never did pay much attention.

There were two stair wells next to each other going up, and a gap between them going down. It looked like some kind of large meeting hall of something. So now he had a choice, to go up and down. Kakashi said that they might have dungeons so maybe down was the best route. If not, he could always come back and then take the other way up. He was just about to run to the stairs leading down when a huge gust of wind hit him. He flew back slamming into one of the statues.

"Damn, you're still alive?" Kimi said as she had been hidden behind one of the large statues waiting. "I'd have thought that those trees would have killed you. Buddha or kami must smile upon idiots and fools, that is if you believe in that kind of stuff."

"Where's Temari-chan?" Naruto said as he struggled to get up. His back hurt but he had been hit a lot worst that than. He could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth, most likely he got a cut lip from his teeth or something.

"Oh so it's Temari-_chan_, huh? So you two are together that way." Kimi stated as she slowly moved forward with her own fan. "What if I said she was already dead?"

"You're lying, she's not dead!" Naruto shouted out at her.

"Then I guess you'll have to see for yourself, that is if you think you can beat me." Kimi stated as she got into a fighting pose.

**Next up Chapter 28: Settling Matters**


	28. Settling Matters

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 28: Settling Matters**

Naruto was staring down the female ninja in front of him, this was the one that had most likely blown him into the trees earlier. She had a fan just like Temari's, only in a different style. He didn't know where Temari was, but this girl obviously knew and he would make her tell him what she knew. He charged forward making several clones as he ran at her. She smirked, she couldn't believe he would do something so careless, was the boy an idiot or just had a death wish?

She opened her fan and used it to make a large wind blowing him and his clones away. The clones disappeared when they hit the ground but Naruto slowly got up. He wouldn't give up and he would make her tell him the truth. He threw one of the few kunai he had left knowing she would use her fan to get rid of them. When she drew back her fan he went off at an angle. Now she would have to deal with the kunai or get hit by them, while she had to focus on that he would attack her on a totally different approach. She did use the wind to knock the weapons away but with her backhand she managed to use her fan one more time.

This time Naruto was thrown back into one of the large statues before hitting the ground.

"Well that was better," Kimi stated as she rested her fan on the ground and leaned on it. "But in order to beat a wind user you can't come at us so directly and you have to be fast. In a one-on-one fight, you can't beat someone like me."

"I won't give up," Naruto said through gritted teeth as he pushed himself up.

"Huh, that should have broken at least one bone," Kimi looked at the boy. He should be hurting more than just that, either she was losing her touch or the kid was tougher than normal. Then again he did survive being buried under some trees. She opened her fan ready to finish him off when she sensed someone coming up fast behind her. Kimi managed to dodge just as Temari's kick flew past her head. Kimi turned to get her fan in use but in close quarters it wasn't easy.

"Temari-chan!" Naruto yelled out seeing her.

"Leave this to me Naruto, this is personal," Temari told him not looking at him as she wanted to keep her eyes focused on her opponent. She knew that she couldn't let Kimi get any distance. Temari hadn't found her fan so she was at a major disadvantage. Sure with Team 7 she had been learning some combat without the fan but it was still her preferred mode of fighting. She kept at the older woman, never letting her get any distance or time to use any technique.

But she was having a hard time landing a hit on the girl too, Kimi had closed her fan and was now using it as a defensive barrier. Hitting the metal fan was like hitting a wall, she once tried for a side kick and Kimi had placed the fan in her way. Now Temari's shin hurt like hell, she was lucky she pulled at the last moment or else she might have broken it. Kimi kept on jumping away, trying to get the distance but Temari was right on her tail the entire time.

"You've improved," Kimi noted as they fought. "But you still don't know everything I taught you." Kimi opened her ran but instead of waving it around sideways, she spun it around vertically in a circle. Temari was caught by surprise when a wind shield was created. But she had her own surprise.

"You never taught me everything," Temari bit her thumb to draw out blood. Normally she would use another means to call on him, but thankfully there were many different ways to call forth a summon animal. She called forth Kamatari, the one-eyed weasel that carried a sickle with him. "Go Kamatari!"

"On it," The weasel stated as he flew with tremendous speed at Kimi. The summon animal could move so quickly that most people couldn't follow him. But with Kimi's wind shield all his strikes ended up hitting her barrier. That was fine, she planned on it to get some breathing room anyway. Now she just needed a plan of attack before Kamatari went back. She could only summon him in battle for short bursts.

Naruto had watched the battle and although he wanted to know what was going on with them, they seemed to know one another. The girl had said something about training Temari and she was using a fan just like his wife. Was the girl from Suna? He also wished he could help but Temari seemed really serious about fighting her alone. But she didn't have any weapons. Then he remembered what he found on the way here. He dug into his equipment bad and pulled out the two small battle fans. She said he couldn't help but nothing said he couldn't at least give her back what was hers.

"Temari-chan, here!" He threw them at her.

She caught the items as they were thrown at her. At first she wasn't sure what he was doing and about the chew him out when she saw what they were. The fans he had given her as a gift. She had thought that they had taken them when she woke up but they must have fallen off her. She smiled as Kimi would never expect this. She quickly ran at the other girl as she saw her summon animal leaving.

"Well that was a new trick," Kimi said as she pulled her own fan back. "But you never were able to beat me Temari. It's time to end this, I would have preferred to kill your brother but I suppose we never get what we want."

Kimi sent out a blade of air at Temari trying to cut her in half. Temari quickly opened her fans and in a crisscross fashion created two smaller versions of the same air blade. Although Kimi's was larger, Temari's were more accurate and cut a hole for her passage through them. Normally her larger fan would have just cancelled out the other jutsu, this way the air blade was now cut into two as it cut two paths of destruction behind her. Kimi was surprised by this as she tried to get her fan back into position for another shot.

Temari was faster though, she managed to duck under the large fan and with one swipe, cut into Kimi's stomach with the fan in her hand. Kimi dropped her fan as she held her stomach; she hadn't expected Temari to know a new style of fan battling. She had to admit, Temari had grown a lot since she last saw her. In a strange way she was kind of proud of that. She winced as the pain made her fall to her knees, the feel of her hot blood was covering her hands. She knew that if she pulled her hands away, her guts would spill out. She was basically dead, it only would be a matter of time now. She could die slowly as her body bled out or she could die in a short and horrible manner seeing her guts spill out onto the floor.

Temari stepped forward, knowing full well the kind of damage she had just inflicted on the older girl. Kimi wouldn't be able to use the fan against her again, not without killing herself in trying. She felt a pain deep in her heart at the sight of this, this was something she never wanted in her life.

"Well...You've gotten stronger," Kimi coughed up blood that most likely was seeping into her stomach and one lung from a small cut she bet. "Do me one favour, even if for old times sake?"

"What?" Temari asked trying to keep her voice from cracking in seeing this.

Kimi lifted her head to look at Temari without any fear. "End this, please. I don't want this to drag out. Please send me to him, I want to see him again so bad." Kimi said as the first tears she had shed in a year finally showed on her face.

Temari placed the fans on either side of her neck, "Where's my fan?"

"Second floor, store room in the east side, you can't miss it." Kimi said to her.

"I'm sorry," Temari said as her hands shook. "For everything."

"Doesn't matter," Kimi said as she closed her eyes and thought of her dead lover again. She so hoped she would finally be united with him again.

Temari shut her eyes and gritted her teeth as she slid the fans in a crisscross pattern and put some chakra into them. They created two wind cuts that decapitated the ex-Suna ninja. Temari heard the head hit and then the body, she felt the spray of blood hit her body and she slowly forced herself to look. There laying on the ground was someone that had shaped her life. Her head and body separate, there was so much blood as the girl's heart bumped out a few more times before stopping. It was a sickening site and one she knew would never left her.

"Temari-chan?" Naruto said slightly worried as he touched her arm.

"I need to get my fan," Temari said as she moved. She didn't look back, she didn't let any emotion onto her face. Which was just as well, at the moment she felt too numb to feel or say anything.

When everyone gathered together again, they met up in one of the main rooms. Kakashi had found Sakura and made their way together. They had found Naruto and Temari, who by that time had found her fan. Soon after that they finally met up with Sasuke. When asked what happened, he just shrugged saying he had to deal with the ninja he had been trapped with. He didn't elaborate, only that he just had to find another route as he couldn't have broken down the door that had been locked shut.

The place was starting to get more and more crowded as Naruto's shadow clone army was starting to dwindle. They needed to come up with a plan on dealing with everything.

"So, any bright ideas?" Sasuke asked as they looked around.

"We need to deal with this Cain person," Sakura said as she thought about it. "Without him, these guys won't be much of a problem."

"I think we should burn this place down as well," Kakashi stated seeing the surprised looks. "Well it would cover our escape as well as prevent anyone else from using this place as a base. It would scatter the men and prevent this place being used again by them or others like them."

Kakashi looked at his genin, "Naruto, Sasuke can I trust you two to do set this up?"

He figured between Sasuke's fire jutsus and Naruto's natural ability to wreck havoc and destroy things, they could easily make this place a smouldering a ruins in a few hours.

"Sure, but where are you going Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked him.

"To take care of a loose end," Kakashi said cryptically as he went on his way.

Cain was in his room waiting for an update on what was going on. The sounds of battle had slowly been fading over time. For now he needed to know what the status was, a few men had come up and told him a few things, that there were fighting inside the compound but after that nothing else. He hadn't heard back from those ninja either, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He looked out the large window that was behind his desk. So far the fighting seemed to be dying down. There weren't any more explosions at least, he didn't want to think about the repairs. He just hoped that girl was worth enough to cover it.

"Interesting office," an unfamiliar voice said behind him. "I should have known it would have been at the highest point of the building."

Cain turned around quickly but there was no one there, but then again there was a lot of darkness. He had turned out most of the lights so no one would see him at the window. Being killed while he was looking out at the battle would have been a bad move on his point simply because the light was giving his profile away at the window. He slowly edged towards his desk for the blade he kept there.

"You have me at a disadvantage," Cain said looking for any kind of movement. "It seems I have an uninvited guest. You wouldn't happen to let me know who you are and what happened to the ninja I hired, would you?"

"The name you don't need to know as I don't think you're worth it, as for the ninja well."

Suddenly a presence was felt behind him as Cain felt a cold blade enter his back. He choked out a sound as he tried to look behind him. He never heard a thing, never even knew the man was behind him until it was too late.

Kakashi leaned in and gently said to him, "As for the ninja, you'll be seeing them." He reached with his other hand and quickly snapped the man's neck. He let him fall to the floor and left. The place would soon be on fire and he didn't want to be here when it did.

**-Later-**

When they returned from their mission, all of village had been waiting to see them. Once again they were given a hero's welcome. When word got around that the threat was gone people wanted to thank them all personally. But after a long mission they really needed to get to rest. So with some thanks to all the people, they moved to their rooms in the hotel eager for a rest. They were all tired and sporting some injuries as well that they needed to see to tending.

For Kakashi he threw his vest down as he got out the injury kit he kept in one of his sealed scrolls. They had put a minimum amount of time on their injuries back before they left to come back to the village, but now it was time to get a better look at them. So far as missions went it hadn't been too bad. Sure they had some problems but all missions do. No one needed to go to the hospital and they had accomplished all their goals. He doubted the survivors of that criminal organization would attack the village anymore. Not without their leader or the ninja, the people of the village could defend themselves against common criminals now.

He started with fixing up his injuries, it was times like this a medic would come in handy. He only knew the basic field medic training that ANBU needed to know. As sometimes you had to do solo missions and if you got hurt, well you were pretty much screwed if you didn't know how to treat yourself well enough to get to safety. But thinking about the mission, he couldn't help but think something was going on that he didn't know about. Temari looked very distracted and Naruto seemed concerned, and not for her physical injury. Someone had happened and she wasn't talking about it.

Naruto could look after that, but he would have to keep an eye on her if things got worse. She was obviously dealing with something. Then there was Sasuke, he was in deep thought as well but it seemed more like he was trying to make up his mind about something. The only one he really didn't have to worry as much about was Sakura. She did seem a little down when she looked at Sasuke, but other than that she was doing well.

This was why he didn't like to teach young kids, they weren't mature enough to handle some things and he had no experience in dealing with kids. It was part of the reason he always failed the previous genin teams. Well that and they had no teamwork at all, and this way he could have more time to himself. But with Team 7 he thought that maybe he saw some hope that he had found the perfect team. Well he should have known that no one was perfect he mused with a chuckle. Hell, more often than not, he was brought back to his own genin team under Yellow Flash.

But it seemed that the bond of Team 7 had been shaky lately, Temari had helped. She had formed bonds with Naruto and Sakura but Sasuke still remained the problem.

After finishing his first aid and laid down on his futon with a sigh. He stared up the ceiling wondering what he could do to help things out. Maybe he should ask Asuma and Kurenai? They at least had teams that seemed to work well with each other. He could ask Gai, but he dismissed that. Just because if he ever asked Gai for anything the man would hold that over his head for years and it just wasn't worth it.

Thinking of home brought his mind to Anko, maybe she could have a talk with Sasuke. He might actually listen to her as she was given a curse seal as well. Maybe they could find something in common and she could warn him about the path he was walking down. It was a long shot but it couldn't hurt. In fact he felt that was a good idea, he'd go and see her and ask her. Thinking of the purple haired woman brought this thoughts to this little 'friends with benefits' thing they had going. Besides the fact that the sex was great and she was fun to hang out with, he was thinking of her more often.

It was really odd, he never had a woman brought to his mind so much. Was it just lust they had with each other or could there be something more? Or maybe it was just him, after all he had never really had a real relationship. Maybe he was just catching up with his age, but he was only just twenty-six. Then again in the ninja world that could be considered 'middle age', that was a laugh, him having a 'mid-life crisis' already. Maybe Anko just wanted to have someone that she could have fun and stress relief with. After all she was a younger woman of twenty-four, she had time to just play around before she felt the need to commit to anything he bet.

He sighed again, he wouldn't think about it for now. Right now he just wanted to sleep and then face any problems in the morning.

In the Temari and Naruto Uzumaki room, it was pretty silent. Naruto being mostly healed up only needed some bandages, a few were just for show for the others too. Temari needed help though as her ribs were sore as was her arms. Naruto helped with putting bandages on her exposed torso. He couldn't help but blush as he did so but he noticed her eyes had that far away look in them.

"Sorry you had to do that," Naruto said knowing what she was most likely thinking about.

"It's okay, it happens," Temari said in a neutral voice. "One day's friend could be tomorrow's enemy."

"No it's not okay," Naruto said sternly as his raised voice actually got her full attention. She had rarely heard him with that tone of voice to her. "You two knew each other, I don't know the full story but I could tell that you two were friends."

"It doesn't matter, it's all in the past!" Temari shouted as she turned away from him. She felt the stinging in her eyes from tears. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to have anyone see her cry. She hated to be seen as weak and she wouldn't do that now.

"It should matter," Naruto said to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off not wanting him to feel sorry for her.

"You don't know what it's like to kill a friend anyway." Temari said the words without thinking them, she just wanted to lash out. She had lost one of the most important people in her life not once but twice. And this time she had killed her, she could still see the bloody corpse she had turned Kimi into, every time she closed her eyes she could see that image.

There was a silence for a moment until Naruto spoke softly. "There was a boy, his name was Haku. When I first met him I thought he was a girl actually, but he helped me. He told me that to truly be strong, you need someone precious to protect. He gave me something that I hold onto, it's one of my most important rules I live by. Then the next time we saw each other, he was trying to kill me and Sasuke."

Temari turned slowly to face him and she saw the sadness in his eyes as he remembered that day. "I never blamed him, he was just trying to protect his most precious person. I nearly did kill him too, I wanted to kill him but when I saw his eyes I just couldn't. He was a lot like me too, I considered him a friend. But in the end he sacrificed himself to protect a ninja that Kakashi was going to kill."

"I know that it was Kakashi that did the killing blow, but I still think I could have stopped him. I could have done something, grabbed him but I didn't. Sometimes I still think that I didn't stop him on purpose. That a part of me was still angry that I thought at the time he had killed Sasuke." Naruto shook his head at that. "Still, he was a good person really, and I think of him as a friend. Even though I just met him, but in the end my team killed him just because we were on separate sides."

"But I still hold onto what he taught me." He finished he hadn't noticed she had moved until she was holding on to him. She was holding on tightly, more for herself than anything else so he gently held her back.

"How do I go on, how do I live with this?" She asked nearly choking on the tears she was holding back. "She was like an older sister to me and I...I..."

"She made a choice too, she tried to kill you," Naruto said trying to think of something that could ease her pain. "Just remember what she was like, remember the good times. Remember her as she was, that's how I like to remember Haku, as the person I met in that field and not as my enemy who died."

Temari couldn't take it anymore, all the pain she had been pushing down she just couldn't do it anymore. She broke down as she started to cry into his shoulder. The pain of losing Kimi again, of learning the truth, of killing her and everything else as it was just too much. She needed something to hold onto and Naruto was perfect. He let her cry her heart out to him, letting his presence help her deal with the pain.

**-Sometime Later-**

Team 7 finally made it home without any trouble, Temari had been very quiet on the way home but no one pushed her. She was always by Naruto's side almost like she was taking strength in just his presence. Sasuke was quiet as well and so it was left to Naruto and Sakura to try and keep things interesting as they made their way back. The two tried to lighten the mood but it wasn't easy. By the time they reached the massive gates of the village, Kakashi could literally feel the sigh with his team. It had been a long mission and everyone would be tired.

"Why don't you all go home, I'll handle the mission report," Kakashi told them.

His charges made their way home and Kakashi sighed not sure if he could deal with this. He wasn't good with dealing with the emotions of ones so young. He might have to deal with this if things didn't improve. At least with Temari, she had Naruto who seemed to be helping her with something. Sasuke was just a mystery he was walling himself up and not letting anyone even close.

With Naruto and Temari, he was watching his young wife carefully. She hadn't said much after that night she broke down crying. He figured she was just coming to terms with everything. She had told him everything about Kimi, how she had been the one that Temari had looked up to and trained her in the use of the fan. How things had gone when Gaara had killed her lover while he had been in some kind of battle lust.

She went straight to the shower and changed, he felt like the same and used the smaller one downstairs in their home. When he came out he looked over the place, it had started to take on a feel of a real home lately. Here and there, there were touches of both himself and her. There were a few pictures hanging on the living room wall, of Team 7 and others. There was a picture of Temari and her old team and family. He also saw a present he made for her once.

He had taken her old Suna headband and put it into a glass case and placed it on the wall. When she had seen it and asked him why he did it, he just said that she should be proud of where she came from. So that she would never forget and that everyone would know she was proud of her Suna heritage. She had given him a beautiful smile and pulled him into a kiss for that. Apparently he had made a good choice in that.

He had changed in the small bathroom after taking the clothes with him for his shower. He dropped his dirty clothing in the hamper, knowing if he didn't she would get angry with him. He finished drying his hair and placed it in there as well. Naruto made it up to the second floor. His old room before the marriage was pretty much turned into a spare room now. Since he now slept in the same bed as Temari after their wedding. At first it took some getting used to but he grew to really like it.

He stepped into their room and saw that she already had a nightgown on and slipped inside the bed. She was turned away from him and he paused, wondering if she wanted to be alone.

"Please stay." Temari told him almost like she could tell what his hesitation was about.

Naruto wordlessly slipped into bed with her as she turned and hugged herself to his body. She didn't cry but she did need to have some kind of comfort. She felt a little weak at doing this but she didn't care anymore about appearances. Besides as long as it was Naruto she didn't care what he saw. For him she could afford to look weak because he would never judge her only love her. It was that feeling of love that she needed the most in this moment. It would take time for this opened wound to heal over again, but as long as she had her husband she knew that the healing process would be better this time around.

Sasuke finally made it home and the place was quiet as usual which he didn't mind. Sometimes he preferred the quiet. There were no distractions or anything else. No one to pressure him or fan girls to annoy him, no more people with pity in their eyes that looked at him or anything else like that. Here was a place where no one would bother him, and he was surrounded by the memories of what he had to do with his life. He had to make these halls full again one day while ensuring that no one was left to harm them. To avenge the blood that had been spilled here.

He kicked his shoes off and went to his room he placed his backpack on the floor. He would go through it and get it ready for whenever they had another mission. He placed his weapon pouch off his leg and onto a small table. He slowly opened it as he placed a finger through the hole of a kunai and quickly turned. He brought the kunai up to the neck to the red headed girl behind him.

"Fuck!" Tayuya cried out taking a step back. "What the hell!?"

"Don't sneak up on me, ever." Sasuke told her as he placed the weapon back. "I see you were able to get in easily enough."

"Yeah just fucking fine," Tayuya rubbed her neck. She thought it would be funny to sneak up on the kid, how the hell was always on their guard even in their own home? Then again given the history of this place maybe she could see why. Having your older brother kill everyone here at night, she wouldn't sleep too heavily either. "So where can I set up?"

"There's a room down the hall, it was a spar for visitors that you can place your things." He told her.

She shrugged as she went back into the hall and picked up her bag. She couldn't believe that she had to stay here again, but at least it was in a nice place. She wasn't hiding in the shadows or in some abandoned building or room with the others of her team. It was good to have some personal space, honestly sometimes the others really got on her nerves. The room was pretty decent, a little dusty but then again it wasn't like she expected him the dust the entire place. Hell given she had to hide out here it gave her something to do.

She sighed, she was told to do anything in order to get the Uchiha boy on their side, and she knew that anything meant anything. Any kind of manipulation or lie, even telling him the truth, even offering him her body if it came to that, she would do anything for the mission. But she would accomplish this mission, the boy had already accepted her offer that was the first step. Now she just had to show him all the things that Orochimaru could offer him and he would go willingly.

**Next up Chapter 29: Home Front**


	29. Home Front

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 29: Home Front**

It had been nearly a week since the return from Wave and things were settling back to normal. Currently Naruto and Temari were in their yard continuing his wind elemental training. Naruto was glad that Temari was more like her old self he did see her look sad at times when she thought he wasn't looking, but he knew that it would take time to get over it. He still felt sad thinking about the Third or Haku. Currently Naruto was trying to cut a rock in his hand again. He really wanted to get this done, he had been using clones to help him lately under Temari's watchful eye of course.

The first time he tried to do it with an army of clones he collapsed after it, she had been worried and then pissed at him for going too far. So she was helping him while he used a small supply of clones. It wasn't as fast but over the time they had been starting this he felt he was making progress.

"Alright," Temari said from her place in front of the real Naruto. "Call back all the clones and let's see how this works now."

"Okay," Naruto eagerly dispelled them and felt the head rush of information being slammed into his head. Although he was only using a dozen it was still a little taxing. But he felt that he was a lot closer now. He looked at the rock and concentrated, he felt for the wind chakra like Temari had taught him to. He covered the rock in both hands as he shut his eyes and felt the chakra starting to move. It took him a moment but the loud crack told him something had happened.

He opened his hands and grinned, the rock was split in two. It wasn't a clean break, the edges were all jagged and there were cracks all along the split but he did it. "Yes! Finally I cut the stupid rock!"

Temari smiled a little seeing him jump up with joy, whenever he accomplished something he acted like he had moved a mountain. Well it was impressive with how fast he had learned this, it had taken her a good year to fully master it and he had done it in months. Or at least he had taken the first step at least.

"Settle down and look at this," Temari told him picking up a rock herself. Naruto sat down and watched as she placed both hands onto the rock. There was the same cracking sound but when she opened her hands the rock was split perfectly. It was a seamless clean cut unlike Naruto's cut.

"This is what you'll have to shoot for now. Just cutting it isn't enough you need to also learn how to made a smooth cut like this. When you have, that means you have mastered calling out your wind chakra." She explained to him.

"Aw, I wanted to learn some cool wind jutsu," He pouted while crossing his arms.

Temari tried not to sigh, it was strange how Naruto one moment could be kind of cool but then reverted back to a childish state. Well he needed to learn patience, there was no way she was going to have him get himself killed by jumping into things like he had a habit of doing. "Look this is important Naruto. Wind is the most dangerous type of element to use if you don't know what you're doing. I heard how one person tried to use this one wind jutsu without practicing enough and you know what happened? The kind off his arm was flayed off his body, the entire arm. They couldn't fix that given all the other damage and he lost his arm, and nearly died from it.

Naruto paled at the thought of all the skin of his arm being ripped off. Maybe it was good to make sure he could do it properly after all. He knew that the damn Fox would heal him, but he really didn't want to test the limits. He wasn't immortal or anything and he didn't want to find out if he could re-grow an arm. Plus he bet that would hurt, a lot, and didn't feel like finding out what his pain threshold was either.

"Uh, okay, so how can I learn to make it a cleaner cut?" He asked.

She smiled as she took his hands and placed a rock in them. "I'll show you."

Naruto looked at her as she did this, sure they were married, yes they shared a bed and a few times had sex. But even just feeling her hands on his felt really nice, they were soft but strong from her own training and skills. Plus she really smelled nice and she was good looking. She noticed him watching and saw her blush a bit, he must have been staring a bit too hard.

"Concentrate on your work," She told him gently.

"Oh sure," He stuck his tongue out a bit as he tried to do what he had just done before with the previous rock.

Temari did enjoy that he did look at her like that, it always felt nice to know that she had this effect on him. Plus she seemed to care more and more for him. First she was scared of him, then as she got to know him, they slowly become somewhat friends. As time went on she found herself caring for him and she was sure falling for him. She was pretty sure she was in love in him, after everything they had been through and Temari was thankful for it.

When this whole marriage thing was told to her, she feared she would be trapped in some loveless marriage for duty. But things were slowly changing for the better and she was actually glad this happened.

**-Kakashi's Apartment-**

It was a slow week for Kakashi, training was done for the day with his team and there were no D rank missions so they had the read of the day off. Most likely Temari would help Naruto with his elemental training Sakura said something about looking up some information at the library. He wasn't sure what, but he got the feeling the girl was looking for what type of ninja she wanted to be. She was at a crossroads it seemed and he hoped whatever path she choose to follow she put her heart into it. As for Sasuke, well he was as distant as ever. Something was going on as he left without a word and went back to his home as soon as he could.

Even before he used to at least be with his team mates sometimes, now it was like he found the team an annoyance. He really wished he knew what he could do with that boy. Unfortunately his plan with Anko hit a snag, she had been on a mission when they had returned. He left a message at her place and she would show up at some point he hoped. He also hoped that she could at least try and talk some sense into Sasuke. Kakashi wasn't sure but he was worried that boy might be experimenting with the curse mark.

It wasn't anything he noticed at first but the boy seemed to be a bit darker lately and he knew the kind of effects that mark had on you. Plus with all the secrecy he had been doing, it could mean that Sasuke was doing something that Kakashi wouldn't approve of. The boy also had refused the new seal as well. He hoped he was wrong it could be something else entirely.

He sighed as he lay on his bed trying to read his book but failing. He just couldn't enjoy it while his mind was going a mile an hour. It was then that he heard a knock on his door. Curious he placed his book on the nightstand and went to answer the door. He was pleasantly surprised to see a slightly dirty Anko with a bag on her shoulder.

"Hey, saw you're message you needed my help with something?" She asked as she walked into his place.

"I was hoping you might be able to talk with Sasuke," Kakashi filled her in on everything that was going on with him, even his concerns on what he might be doing. He could already see that Anko was a bit concerned as well. She knew full well the kind of life it was with that mark on you. How you had to constantly try and not have to worry about it, or give into temptation. She sighed with a frustrated sounds as she took her hair down.

"Well that certainly is something to worry about if he's using that thing. I told you, that you should have just placed that new seal on him even if he didn't want it." Anko told him.

"You know that I couldn't do something like that to another ninja without their say so." Kakashi told her as he took in her appearance. "Did you come straight here after your mission?"

"Yeah I was going to take a shower but they had to shut off the water," Anko said slightly annoyed. "They had a burst pipe so for the next few hours my apartment is without water. So I figured I could use yours."

"Be my guest," Kakashi smirked as she slipped out of her coat. He picked it up, "You want me to wash this with your clothing?"

"Well you don't have to but it would be nice," Anko said as she started to slip out of her clothing on the way to the shower. She knew that she was teasing him, but it wasn't like they hadn't seen each other naked already. She was totally naked by the time she hit the bathroom and placed her bag on the sink. She started the water and when the warm water hit her skin she felt instantly better. Her muscles started to relax a bit as she washed off days of sweat, dirt and grime from her body.

By the time she was done she felt better than ever, she showered and now she needed one more thing. She opened the door and noticed he wasn't outside, Anko was a bit disappointed by that. She wrapped a towel around herself and found him in the next room. Kakashi had one of those washer dryers that was put into a hallway closet. Lucky him, she had to use the laundry room at her place.

She wrapped her arms around him, "So, now that I have to wait for my clothing to dry is there anything we can do to pass the time?"

Kakashi looked over his shoulder and noticed her lack of dress. "I think we can think of something."

She grinned as she pulled off his mask and kissed him deeply. She had been craving this lately and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't care that the towel fell off her. Kakashi picked her up by her ass as she locked her legs around him as he carried them into the bedroom.

**-Lemon-**

It didn't take long for them to get Kakashi in a similar state of dress as herself. They were happily laying together on his bed kissing and feeling each other's bodies.

She moaned when he started to suck on her neck, it was one of her pleasure spots and he used it all the time. She felt one of his hands going to her sex and started to work their magic on her. She moaned as she decided to return the favour, her hand snaked its way down his body as she felt his hard manhood. She gently started to stroke him hearing pleasing sounds from him. It was so nice to have someone she could have sex with whenever they needed it. It was just too hard to find a decent guy, either they were good in bed but she could never see herself in a relationship with them. Or they seemed like a nice guy but came in like seconds.

Kakashi seemed to be the best of both worlds, he was a decent guy, she got along with him and the sex was always enjoyable. Hell, he even gave her that new seal that helped to subdue that stupid curse mark on her neck. He really wasn't such a bad guy, so why were they just friends with benefits? Maybe because she didn't want to screw up what was a good thing. Besides, her in a relationship? What was she thinking.

'_Shut up and just enjoy,'_ Anko told her brain. _'I don't need to over think this, oh shit! God he's good with those fingers.'_

Kakashi started to trail his kisses down to her chest, making sure to give proper attention to her breasts. They really were nice ones too, not too big, not too small and they felt great. Plus he loved the sounds she made when he started to suck on her nipples.

"Oh fuck me," Anko moaned softly grabbing his head as she started to take one of her hardening nipples into his mouth. The feel of his mouth working on the sensitive part, the way his tongue played with it. She didn't even had to tell him to bite down as he knew she liked it like that.

"I'll get to that in a moment," Kakashi chuckled as he started on the other one.

"To hell with a moment, do me now," She told him.

"Well if you insist," He sat up and turned her onto her stomach. He pulled her hips up as she got on her hands and knees facing away from him.

"You better put that in the right hole Kakashi," She warmed him. She never did like anal, it was just too painful for her at the moment but he didn't seem to mind. She felt his hand caressing her back, going along her spin making her shiver in anticipation. Then she felt his sex organ slightly rubbing against her wet sex. She moved her hips trying to get more feeling of their skin rubbing against each other.

Then he lined himself up and pushed into her, she moaned out as her head hung down. She loved how deep he could get in this position and with being able to angle his thrusts downward he could rub against her g-spot too. He started with slow methodical thrusts as she pushed her body back against him. Kakashi had to admit that Anko had a great ass, he groped it as they had sex. Then an idea got to him, he took one hand away and spanked her ass. The loud smack sound was heard with an outcry from him.

"Want more?" Kakashi grinned.

"Yes, do it harder." She told him getting turned on by this. She never told anyone but she had this fantasy of being taken across someone's lap and being spanked. She just felt silly about it so she never once mentioned it.

"Thrusting or spanking?" Kakashi asked amused.

"Both," She replied. He started to comply with her wishes, each time he slapped her ass she couldn't help but cry out in shock and pleasure. He would then caress it and then start again, plus he was going faster and harder now. After a few minutes of this she just knew her ass would look all red but it was so worth it. "Oh god I'm getting close, fuck me as hard as you can Kakashi."

He grunted with the effort as he used both hands on her hips to pull her towards him as hard as he could. She was crying out in pleasure now, she couldn't even hold herself up as her arms gave out. She bit into his pillow screaming to muffle the sounds. Then her whole body just started jerking as she screamed out as she climaxed. Kakashi feeling how her body suddenly was now clenching his manhood he couldn't take it anymore. With a few more hard thrusts he moaned as he filled her body. After a moment of catching his breath and after his body was done he leaned done onto her gently.

Anko moaned in post orgasmic delight feeling his body pressed up against hers felt nice. They shifted to their sides as he held her to him. It felt nice just being like this. Both of them did like the sex but these moments were nice as well. They didn't need to say anything, they just lay there holding of caressing each other lightly. Anko closed her eyes enjoying the feeling. This was something she never did before, mostly it was either disappointing or after the orgasm she dressed or kicked the guy out of her bed.

With Kakashi it was different, she actually liked just laying here in his arms. What she didn't know was that he was feeling the same thing. He liked having her here in his arms, it felt natural for some reason. But she wasn't totally satisfied just yet, she was ready for a bit more fun first. She turned around and faced him.

She grinned as she pushed him onto his back and started to trail kisses down his body. She took his limp member in her hand and started some of her oral treatment on it. Kakashi groaned, he was still sensitive down there and the things she was doing with her tongue felt better than normal. She would moan as she licked him and when he was hard enough that's when she started to suck on him. She would do just the tip at first and slowly get more and more down.

"Oh god Anko," He said feeling her warm wet mouth working on him. She really was great at this and the moans she made while doing it only added to it. "If you keep this up I'm not going to last long."

She stopped licking her lips at him, "Well we can't have that can we." She grinned as she sat up and started to straddle him. She eagerly took hold of his member and guided herself down onto him. "Oh yes this is what a girl needs," She grinned grinding her hips against his.

Kakashi slowly caressed her body as she started to ride him gently. They started off slow making this one last longer as they both wanted to enjoy it. She moaned as she threw her head back as she started to go a bit harder. She felt his hands on her chest as she ran her hands over his stomach, she really loved the six pack he had on him. Soon they were going at it harder as she rode him harder. He pulled her down as he lifted his head to start taking one of her breasts into his mouth while she rode him.

She cried out as she gripped the sheets going faster and harder as he thrust back with equal force. She lost track of time as they continued on but Anko couldn't hide it anymore. She cried out his name as she felt herself finally climax. She fell onto him feeling him continue on. He gripped her ass as she moaned in pleasure feeling him continue. He suddenly pushed against her as hard as he could groaning and the wet warm feeling of his release.

**-Lemon end-**

Both of them were tired and aching after their round of sex. Kakashi laid on his back with Anko snuggled up against him, resting her head against his shoulder. The sheets were a mess, and so were they but they felt better for it.

Anko chuckled as a thought hit her, "I'm going to need another shower now. God, I think I got more aches. Why does good sex have to give you that?"

"Well it's worth the price," he told her looking down at her. She really did look great with her hair down, even if it was slick from sweat and sticking to her head like that. She looked up at him with her brown eyes.

"What?" She asked seeing him stare.

"Just thinking how good you look even now," he said honestly.

Anko smiled a bit, it was a little corny since she never really had the 'pillow talk' before now. Truth was she kind of enjoyed it, with Kakashi there was no pressure or awkwardness after sex. She just hit him lightly for going soft on her, but it did feel nice just being here.

She moaned as she thought of what she had to do now. "Crap, now I need another shower and the aches and pains on top of the aches from sex won't help, I'm tired and I'm really not looking forward to the walk home."

Kakashi hadn't thought of that so the words were out of his mouth, "Then stay."

She looked up at him to see if he was serious and he looked to be. She smiled as she sighed and relaxed. "You better be careful a girl could get used to this."

He chuckled at that as he gently wrapped an arm around her, his hand slowly stroking her bare shoulder. Honestly thinking on it, was this really so bad having her here. It got him thinking about what if it was like if they actually were more than they were now. What they had now was very comfortable but honestly the always seemed to be spending more and more time together. Sometimes he felt like he was making excuses to visit or she seemed to accidentally run into him. What he didn't know was that she had known he was taking a certain route and decided to pass by him.

She was finding that she liked having him around, he didn't judge her past like many had, he was fun to be around with as well.

But both were uncertain as to bring up what they had and what they felt about it. Maybe it was just a need for human contact, after all when they went home they went to an empty apartment. There was no one waiting for them or to welcome them home. When they spent the night at each others it felt nice to feel a warm body next to theirs. It was like a small hole that they hadn't known about was being slowly filled up.

Anko was now thinking how when she got home these days she felt bored and isolated, the thing was she always felt like that but since this thing with Kakashi she was actually aware of it. She also noticed something else, normally when she saw couples out and about she just shrugged it off. She had never really thought about relationships but seeing people now made get this longing. She didn't like it, she never envied anyone in her life so why start now? If she wasn't so young she would say her age was catching up to her.

Originally all she thought was that good friends and good sex now and again was all she needed. So why did see feel like she wanted more out of life all of a sudden? She felt how Kakashi was lightly running his hand over her shoulder, no one had done that to her before. What surprised her the most was how much she liked it. She knew that this was dangerous thinking that maybe this whole thing with him was a mistake after all.

Maybe it was time to cut and run before things got too complicated, she didn't want to ruin the friendship but she found she would miss what they had now. She scowled a bit, things had been going so well and now she just had to start thinking on things and it had ruined it all.

Maybe she should talk to Kurenai about this, she hadn't told her friend all the details as to why she was hanging out with Kakashi all the time, but maybe her friend could give her some advice. With that in mind she forced herself not to think on this anymore, she was tired and wanted some sleep. Maybe in the morning she could just forget all about this and keep things going. Maybe even a little fun in the shower with him before she left at least, that would be some fun at least if things went crazy.

**-Uchiha Compound-**

Sasuke was currently in his training room trying to master the curse mark, it wasn't easy and Tayuya was a stern teacher. She didn't let up no matter what, although her personally liked that kind of training. The harder the training the more powerful you got in Sasuke's mind. Although she had a foul mouth as least she was a strong ninja. From what he learned she was more a genjutsu type and a part of something called the Sound Four.

But she was teaching him what he needed to learn. Apparently the curse seal was a lot more than what he thought it was. She didn't know everything but what she did explain was that it altered chakra to the point where it was more powerful.

Currently he called upon his powers, he saw dark the markings flow over his body and felt the strength flow into him.

"Now remember, you have to control the power constantly, if you lose control then you can't focus on the battle," she stated as she let the curse seal released on herself as dark lines crawled all over her body. "When you can master this, the marks will cover your entire body like mine and not halfway like yours."

"So the full effect is to get the marks over my entire body?" Sasuke asked her.

"Well that will let you master level one of the curse seal, yes."

"Level one?" He was surprised by that, so there was more power to this seal. That was very interesting to him. "So when I finish this I can get a new more powerful level?"

She laughed at him for a moment, "Please, you're no way near ready for that. The curse seal when first applied as a nine in ten chance of killing you. You were lucky that you were the one chance in that ten that survived. But in order to gain the next step you have to die."

"To die?" He didn't like the sounds of that, he couldn't afford to die. "What the hell does that mean and does that mean you can't gain that power?"

"I already got to that point asshole," She didn't like any implication that she might be able to do anything or that she was weaker than someone. "And I mean to die figuratively. There is this special ritual you have to go through and like with getting the curse seal, it can kill you as well. But when you do pass it, you will gain a whole new power."

She decided that he might need a small demonstration about it, so she called forth more power. She figured that this place was large enough that the odds of someone nearby sensing the power would be pretty remote. But she would keep it short at any case. Sasuke watched in fascination as the girl before him changed again. But it was more drastic this time around. Her skin became darker, the whites of her eyes became black and her iris was now a dark golden color. Her hair remained the same but now white horns were growing out of her head.

Some would call it a demonic look, but to him she looked powerful. He could feel the power flowing off her as well and he wanted it. This is something he needed, with something like this he could surprise Itachi and it would shorten the gap of power between them.

"This is the second level," Tayuya stated as she looked at him. "This is the power that you can get with Orochimaru, and you know what? This is only the start of things. There is so many techniques, many that are forbidden that others can't or won't teach you."

She could see him thinking about that, and it was true what she was saying. Orochimaru always did experiments to further the strength and power of both himself and those that served under him. Of course those that were picked to be the experiments didn't have it so lucky but they were usually the bottom of the barrel people that they could afford to lose. She was told to use any and all means to bring him over and she could see that a little further enticement might be needed.

He was already going down the path but he needed a little more nudging. Thankfully those days of watching him she had learned one thing. He had some sort of rivalry with that blonde haired idiot for some reason.

"Although maybe you don't want power," She said as she slowly turned back to her normal form. "After all, you're not the most powerful genin in this village anymore are you?"

"What?" He said darkly.

"I've listened to what people have been saying," she told him with a smirk. "I mean he was the one that defeated that Gaara guy and what do they do? They give him the boy's older sister as a peace offering to him. They gave him a powerful female ninja so they could spawn a whole litter of great ninja. I mean you have to rebuild your clan don't you? A woman like her would have been great for that, strong children and after all weren't the Uchiha one of the founders of this village?"

"But no, they pass you up and give it to an orphan boy. Someone that has never come from any clan, that was the 'dead last', that from what I see only gets by through luck. Maybe they want you to mate with someone from this village instead, although that would be a pitiful sight. The girls in this village are all so weak in comparison with someone like Temari. Someone who is strong, intelligence, capable, knows what it means to be a ninja and the daughter of a Kage."

She could see her words were worming their way into his mind. The seeds were being planted, of that she could see. As a genjutsu expert she knew things about deception and manipulation. She looked around the room as she did, it was easy to see what made him tick. Being here, seeing all the empty rooms and homes brought back her own memories.

This place was once home to many people, young and old, they worked and lived here but now it was as silent as a tomb. He didn`t know this but she could relate to what happened to him. Looking at him, she saw the same rage and fire that had burned inside of herself not too long ago. She wanted the power to right a wrong and Orochimaru had given it to her. So she served him and she didn't regret it.

She turned and left him there, letting her words echo in his mind and she knew that soon he would come to her, but he needed to also trust her. That might mean she had to do something she didn't want to. If it was just giving him her body, that she could do, but to gain his trust she would have to talk about something. Something in her past that she had never told another living soul but if she did, he would see her not as just another sound ninja, but as someone that could relate to his pain.

**Next up Chapter 30: Path of Darkness**


	30. Path of Darkness

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 30: Path of Darkness**

It was the afternoon and a few days since his 'house guest' had moved in with him. Sasuke had been training none stop with the girl when he got away from his team and then went with Tayuya to train in the use of the curse seal. Slowly he felt he was getting somewhere, but he couldn't help be motivated when she had shown him the second level of the mark. That form had looked powerful to him, she had later explained that like the markings, the second form was different for each person. He wondered what kind of form he would have and the power it would hold.

Unlike the training with his team, this training felt like he was actually learning something. Kakashi was being more even with his team, teaching them in groups and wasn't teaching them any new jutsus as he felt they were coming along fine. Well that wasn't good enough for Sasuke.

For Tayuya she had been watching him as he worked, the boy she had to admit put more effort into training than even most ninja she knew. But she knew what kind of motivation revenge could be. It was a fire that burned inside of you and wouldn't stop no matter what until it was satisfied. Although it was extremely boring in this village, she had to put on a genjutsu or even change her hair color and clothing and walk out looking like a civilian at times. Mainly it was just because she was getting cabin fever just waiting around all day for him to get back. Hell, by this point she looked forward to his time here. At least he was someone to talk to and train with.

Sure it was mostly work related but anything was better than nothing. Still, she was starting to lose patience with how long this was taking. The boy should have left long ago but he was still here. She had been trying to be subtle with pushing him to leave but she soon found out that you had to plant the seeds and let things go from there. Any direct approach wouldn't work with him.

Currently they were taking a break from the training, both were sitting out on one of the decks looking at the setting sun. She was suddenly brought back to an old memory, of a life so long ago and far away that it seemed more like the life of someone else. She wasn't that person anymore, she hadn't been for years. Although her patience was starting to run out, she really didn't like staying in a village that if they found out she was part of the team that had held in their previous Hokage with Orochimaru, well it wouldn't be good for her.

Sasuke was at the moment sitting on the floor in the lotus position trying to bring his curse seal powers to their full potential. He had his eyes closed as he tried to bring the power out of him. He could feel the darkness in it as it slowly moved through his body. He could feel his body becoming stronger and by now he felt that he had more control over it. He was taught to let the power flow all over and through him, to allow it to roam through his body at a constant rate. It reminded him of his tree climbing exercise. He had to keep it at a constant rate, too much and it would overwhelm him. Too little and it would be too uncontrollable. IF it fought it, then that's why he felt pain earlier in his fight with Gaara.

She had explained how he had been trying to use his own chakra but had also been drawing out the curse seal at the same time but was denying the curse seal. Plus Kakashi's current seal on him wasn't helping either. But with the training he had found he could finally draw out the power at will and without any pain.

"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Sasuke finally asked as he opened his eyes looking at her. "I got this under control now."

"Look if you want more I can only teach you so much," Tayuya said annoyed at him. "Only Orochimaru-sama can give you the full power and even more."

Sasuke had heard this all before. He sighed as the power slowly went away, he stood up and glared at her. "You always say that, don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. I know you want me to leave and go with you but I have to know if he can keep his promises of power. I won't waste my time anymore."

"He can give you the revenge you want," she told him seriously.

"And how do you know that?"

She paused, this was the moment she would have to tell him. It would be the only way to get him to know that Orochimaru could give him revenge. She just didn't want to relive that old life but she had a mission. "You think you're the only one that has suffered? You think you're the only one that wanted revenge for being wronged?"

"And how would you know that? You ever wanted revenge for your life and family being destroyed."

"Yes, I do you asshole!" She shouted at him. "You're not the only one that knows the pain of that."

Sasuke looked at her for a moment he hadn't expected that but looking into her eyes he could see she was telling the truth. Those eyes, eyes filled with pain and revenge were the eyes he looked into the mirror all the time. Especially lately, after his last meeting with Itachi all he could think about was killing his brother. "So did he ever give you what you wanted?"

"Yes he did," She said as she sat down and thought back to the memories. "I suppose I should tell you the whole story but I'm only saying this fucking once, you miss anything too bad. I'm not telling you anything twice or anything got it?" She glared at him as she saw him nod his head.

_Flashback_

It had all started back years ago in one of the smaller nations. She had only been ten years old at the time. Her village was a farming community that worked in a fairly secluded area. She had been an only child in her family and she knew little of the world. What was the point? After all she was learning from her mother to how to be a normal girl, she learned how to do everything from her. Her father even taught her how to play a flute, something she kept doing all her life.

She didn't remember much of her village, but she did remember was that she had enjoyed her life. But then one day it had all changed. She had been helping her mother with the washing when the shouting had started that's when they knew something had been wrong. She had pieced it together after the fact but a group of bandits had came to the village. Since most main villages usually held contracts with certain ninja villages or were protected by other forces. But it was the smaller ones that suffered, they couldn't afford protection or weren't important enough to justify stationing troops.

They ran to the house, Tayuya had remembered how scared she had been. Before than the most violence she had seen was when some of the men got a little drunk in the streets. She saw black smoke rising and knew there was a fire, how bad she wasn't sure at that moment. She just remembered that her mother rushed her into their home. Their home was slightly elevated off the ground as they had plenty of rain in the village it prevented their homes from flooding.

Her mother had been scared, when Tayuya asked about her father her mother just said that he was most likely fine, but even at that age she knew that her mother had no idea. Her mother pulled aside a heavy basket and pulled up a section of the floor. Years later Tayuya guessed that villages like hers usually had small places like this just in case of attack. She was quickly placed inside and told that no matter what she wasn't to say or do anything.

Tayuya waited under her home, she could hear the sounds of battle outside. Cries and screams along with all kinds of things that gave her nightmares for a very long time after it. Then the door to her home opened, at first she thought it was her father but there were many heavy footsteps. She had to cover her own mouth as she heard her mother shout and fight the men. But they were many and she had been just one. Tayuya closed her eyes wishing she could block out the sounds that came next but she couldn't take them away from her mouth in fear she couldn't trust herself not to make a sound. She had to hear what went on above her, until finally her mother was quiet.

She felt the tears on her young face but still made no sound. She listened as they searched her home and then she waited. They left her home and she stayed, she had no idea how long she was under there. Day turned to night and finally when all she heard were the sounds of the night she crawled out. She found that she was the only survivor of that day. She found her mother and closed the door to the room, she couldn't look in there again. She found her neighbours and friends, even a young boy that she couldn't remember his name anymore, only that he brought her a flower once.

She found an empty home and stayed there, the food would last for sometime but not forever. She couldn't sleep for the entire night. She just huddled in a corner and held herself as her mind tried to process what happened. Her life had been destroyed that day. She found a couple of the men that had attacked her village dead, a pitchfork was in one, another had a scythe had decapitated him. They wore a strange symbol on their clothing. She took one she wasn't sure why only that she felt it might be important one day.

She had no idea how long she had been there, or how long it had been. The place stank of death when a new group showed up. She hadn't left the village because where would she go? She had no knowledge of anything outside of the area. She had no idea where to go or what to do so she had stayed, for the simple reason that she had nowhere else to go.

When strangers entered the village dressed in strange clothing she thought it might be them returning or another group. She waited with a knife she had found and hid herself. She wouldn't let other harm her again. She saw that one of them was alone from the others and so she ran at him. He only had the time to turn and cry out as she stabbed him. He didn't die right away but she kept on stabbed him. She was so filled with anger, pain and rage she didn't notice when he had stopped moving on the ground, when she was covered in blood or when his friends pulled her off him.

"We should kill this bitch, look at what she did," One of the masked men said.

"Look at her, she looks like a filthy animal," another said who was holding her as she fought him.

"Has she been here this entire time?" Another one who was looking around asked the others. "This place is dead, is she a survivor?"

"Who cares," The first said pulling out a kunai. "She's dead."

"Hold it," a calm voice said and all of them froze immediately.

It was then that she saw him for the first time Orochimaru walked up to her and looked her in the eyes. She saw something in his eyes that made her freeze, something that was almost inhuman in his eyes as he stared into her, studying her. He grinned as he judged something about her. "So you survived and killed one of my men. I have to say that interests me, maybe you were given a reason to live. Tell me child, what would you do? If there is anything you want to do what would it be?"

She couldn't look away from his commanding eyes, she found herself answering him despite herself. "I want them dead. The ones that did this, I want them all to die!"

He chuckled at her answer and motioned for the one holding her to let go. "Tell me, if I offer you the power to kill them would you swear your loyalty to me? Would you serve me?"

She didn't even had to think on it, she had no life here anymore she had nothing. This man was offering her a way to kill those that he taken her life. She looked up at him with a cold fire in her eyes. "Yes."

_Present time_

"So did you ever find them?" Sasuke asked hearing the story.

"Eventually," Tayuya said to him looking at him. "It was my initiation into the Sound Four. I was to kill the entire group on my own, which was just fine to me. I waited until dark while watching them. At first I took out the people on watch easily enough. Then made my way through the small camp, there were only fifty of them anyway. I was going to make sure none of them got away."

"When I was ready, I used my flute to call on my three Doki. They ran through the camp killing everyone I could find. I had set up traps in the day that when the few that fled tripped them up. I made sure that those traps were set up to ensure they would suffer before death as well. Then I found the leader of the group, the one that had ordered and led the attack on my home."

"I saved him for last, and when I got around to him, I had the Doki pull his arms and legs off." She grinned at the memory. All the pain and suffering that man had caused in his life was paid back in full. "I watched him die, he begged at first but then he cursed me all kinds of ways. Eventually the blood lose got to him and he finally died. I went back and took my place in the team."

Sasuke looked at her almost for the first time she had avenged her past through Orochimaru it would seem. He didn't find any lie in her story or in her words. It would also seem that Orochimaru for whatever else he was did deliver on his promises. That was something to think over.

**-Konoha Streets-**

At this moment Naruto was walking with Sakura, they had run into each other and decided to walk together since they were going the same way. It had been some time since they had hung out lately as they were all busy it seemed.

"So how are things going?" Sakura asked her teammate who was walking with his hands behind his head.

"Going great," Naruto smiled at her, "Temari-chan says that pretty soon I'll be able to finally start learning wind jutsu. Although she wants to start me off small, but I'm sure that I'll get some new kickass jutsu!"

Sakura couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "It seems everyone is doing something these days. You and Temari are training together Sasuke-kun is doing...something. Honestly I'm a little worried about him. Does he seem more distant lately?"

Naruto thought about it and nodded as he got a bit more serious, "Yeah he's starting to piss me off with his attitude lately. I mean he just goes off alone after we're done for the day with the team, I don't see him around and hardly says anything."

Sakura nodded, Sasuke was getting more and more distant it seemed. She had no idea why, she kept trying to talk to him but he just ignored her or said she was annoying. She thought about visiting him but she knew that wouldn't be a good idea unless he actually invited her. She did respect his privacy enough not to try something like that. But she was stumped as to what was going on with him.

"Maybe he's just sulking about something," Naruto thought randomly. "Or he's just secretly training."

"Maybe," Sakura said as they walked on. She sighed as she thought about that. "You know I've been looking up things in the library about different types of ninja. I mean Temari is a wind user that uses her battle fans, you're a ninjutsu expert given how fast you learn high rank jutsus."

"Really?" He blinked that was one of the few times she really complimented him. He grinned broadly at that, he always liked it when people complimented him. "Thanks Sakura-chan, I never really thought what type of ninja I was. I know I suck as genjutsu and my taijutsu is being improved on thankfully."

Sakura had noticed that, "Yeah but then you get to me. I don't come from some family of ninja or anything to learn from."

"Hey me neither," Naruto offered.

She paused to think on that, at least she had a family Naruto didn't, well until he married at least. "Well what I mean is that I had no idea what kind of ninja I wanted to be. Usually you find your talents in something and train in that, but with my chakra control there is only two real paths for me. Either genjutsu but Kakashi-sensei only knows how to deal with those because he has a sharingan."

"Then the only other route is medical jutsu," in fact there were a couple of other things but she didn't like them. Plus the last mission had shown her that their team needed a medic. Kakashi had to use only basic medical skills to take care of their injuries. When they had gotten back they had to go to the hospital to get checked out. She wanted to be useful to her team, she felt like she was watching them all get farther and farther away from her.

"Oh you mean like Baa-chan?" Naruto said to her.

"Naruto! You shouldn't call her that," She chided him. "Honestly you should have more respect for the Hokage."

"I will when she stops pretending she's not fifty," He countered. Honestly, he didn't see the point in pretending you were younger than what you were. To him hiding behind a genjustu because you didn't want people to see your real age was silly. So he felt it was his duty to remind her that she wasn't young anymore. Well that and he knew how much it irritated her.

"Anyway...you think if I asked for her to train me she would?" Sakura knew that asking training from the Hokage herself was not something most people would even try. After all, what were the odds that the Hokage would agree to that, plus the training would most likely be very intense. But she didn't care about that, she needed the training. From her time with Temari, Sakura had seen that she was behind where she should be and she needed to do something to catch up.

Plus if she was going to train as a medic, she wanted to be trained by the best so her skills would be an asset for her team. Although she was really nervous, what if the Hokage didn't train her, when what would she do? Maybe she could find help elsewhere but she really needed this. She needed to pull her own weight and be there to support her team in the best way she could and this was the way she needed to do it. She just needed for the Hokage to see this and then maybe hopefully she might be given a chance.

Naruto noticed her worried look and smiled at her, "Hey don't worry. Baa-chan is pretty smart and she knows good potential when she sees it. You'll just have to be honest with her and show her your determination and she'll train you."

"You really think so?"

Honestly he had no idea, it just sounded good to him. Naruto was a firm believer that if you kept a positive attitude then there was nothing you can do as long as you threw in all your will behind it. It had worked for him up to this point anyway so why change something that wasn't broken?

"Of course, plus I believe in you and I know you can do this!"

She smiled at him it was nice to hear that from someone. In fact she realized that he had always been there for her and had been trying to make her feel better. She just hadn't noticed it before now. She felt a little bad not noticing him before but she had resolved to be a better friend to him, and to let him know that they were good friends now.

"Thanks Naruto, you're a good friend you know that?"

He only smiled brightly at her chuckling a bit, just happy to hear that.

**-Former Uchiha District-**

Anko walked along the disserted streets, not many people liked to come down this way. Not that she blamed them the sight of a massacre wasn't the type of place you wanted to live in. Many of the houses were falling into disrepair from being abandoned. Looking around she saw that a few had been damaged in the Sound/Sand invasion. A fire had caught on and had burned up a few houses before it had been put out. Thankfully no one lived in them. She heard the stories, everyone had, how the spirits of the dead haunted this place. Kids would dare others to go into the so called 'haunted houses', it was kind of annoying when they had to call in ninja to deal it at times.

One of the great ironies was that it used to the old Uchiha police forced that usually dealt with this kind of things. She didn't remember much about that old force but from what she heard it certainly freed up their ninja for other matters. They still hadn't been able to find a way to replace that unit, even after all these years. The only professional police force was all dead no one was left to train the others. So they had to relearn everything that the Uchiha clan had started. There were reports and a few manuals for recruits that had been found in the old police station but without anyone of experience to teach them, it was trail and error.

Well it wasn't her problem she wasn't involved in anything like that thankfully. She walked up to the only house that looked both cared for and lived in. This was obviously the place so she walked right up to the front door. She considered what approach to use, but what was the fun in that? So she knocked on the door and waited. She knew the boy had to be here, after all she could hear something moving around in there. She sighed and waited, she mentally counted as she figured how long it was to open a damn door.

So when that time came and gone she tried to door, it was locked of course. Not that would stop her, she pulled out her lock picks and within seconds unlocked it. She snorted at that, as a ninja clan you'd think the Uchiha would have invested in some decent locks. She easily opened the door and walked right in.

"Hey anyone home?" She yelled out looking around the place.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said annoyed as he walked into the room. He didn't like people that just came into his home, especially since he wasn't alone. He took a moment and remembered this as that strange women in charge of the second stage of the chunin exams. "Why are you here?"

"Kakashi asked me to talk to you, since you and I have something in common." Anko told him flat out.

Sasuke scowled a bit, he didn't know that Kakashi knew this woman well enough to ask her to talk to him. He guessed that he should have seen something happen with how he had been. But honestly he didn't see much of a difference than how he normally was, and he was busy. But what he couldn't figure out was what in the world he had in common with this strange woman.

"That's why you broke into my home?" Sasuke asked of her.

"Yeah well I got impatient I mean does it take you that long to answer the door?" She told him blowing off the fact she could literally get in trouble for doing so, off like it meant nothing to her. "Look kid, Kakashi is worried and he's wondering if it has anything to do with this."

She pulled her top by her neck aside to show off her own curse mark but with Kakashi's new and improved seal around it. Sasuke hadn't known that this woman had this as well, but then why didn't she use it? She obviously had Kakashi to something with it, was this that new seal that he offered him earlier? It made sense on how he got it working, but still he wasn't convinced that this thing wasn't a curse. He had much more control over it now and honestly he didn't see the problem.

"Look kid if you are using this or not I don't want to know, so you don't have to worry about saying anything you don't want to. Just listen to the voice of experience," Anko told him seriously. "You may not know this but Orochimaru was my jonin sensei. He taught me a lot, although I didn't know it at the time, I was just a tool for him. You see before he was found out he took me somewhere, I don't really remember all the details, he took a lot of memories from me somehow."

It was a sore spot for her, how much he took from her she never knew. There were huge gaps in her memory and there was no telling what exactly she was missing. She spent a lot of time trying to fill in those blanks but she knew she might never fully remember. Who knows what kind of important things to her that had been stolen from her.

"Anyways, he took me somewhere out of the way to put this on me," She pointed to where the seal was. "Then he just left me to die, I don't know why. If ANBU hadn't come across me I most likely would have died. I don't know why he picked me but if I had died then no one would have found me. I was used and then tossed away. That's how he works, if you've outlived your usefulness to him you're nothing to him."

"This damn thing has been a literal pain in my neck since I got it. It hurts sometimes and it can mess with me in important times, I could have been killed because of this." This was very true in the case when Orochimaru had come to this village, the seal had flared up in his presence and it had nearly cost her, her life.

"That's the thing with his 'gifts', they're like a snake. If you aren't careful with them, they'll bite you and you'll pay for it. And trust me, if there is anything I know it's how snakes are."

Sasuke took this in but honestly he wasn't sure even she had all the facts, she admitted to now having all her memories and given that he was actually being trained, he had more control and the pain he hadn't felt in a long time. If she had gotten some kind of training then she most likely wouldn't have these problems.

"Well you don't have to worry about it then, if that's all you came then you can show yourself out." He told her.

"Oh? One small talk and then you want to get rid of me huh?" Anko had a feeling that there was something going on. Maybe Kakashi had been right after all, the curse mark was also seductive in a way, it offered power but the price was just too high.

Sasuke was trying to think of a way to get her out of here, the longer she stayed the more complicated things could get. She was growing suspicious and he couldn't have her looking too close into his life. There had to be some way of getting rid of her that made her think that nothing was going on.

"Sasuke-kun~," A very familiar female voice called out that made the boy's eyes bulge out.

'_What the hell is she thinking!?'_ He mentally yelled out as he turned to look and stood there shocked.

Tayuya came around the corner only in a bath towel that barely covered her body. "The bath will be getting cold so I thought-Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know Sasuke-kun had company!" She quickly hid herself behind the corner looking like a blushing teenager that had been caught by her parents.

Anko blinked a few times before laughing, "This is what's going on? Jeez kid didn't know you had a girl over. Damn, looks like the betting pool on your sexuality is done. Given how many girls threw themselves at you people were starting to talk. What's your name girl?"

"T-Tayuya miss," She did a really great job of sounding meek at the moment. "Please you're not going to tell my parents are you?"

Anko smirked at this, oh Kakashi was going to love this. "Naw, don't worry about it in fact I'll leave you two to it. Guess you really do want to keep the clan going huh?" She winked at Sasuke before letting herself out.

When she was long gone he glared at her, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Why I thought she needed a reason to know why you were being so secretive Sasuke-kun," She said still in her sweat teen voice.

"Knock that off."

"Fine with me asshole," She stated going back to normal. "You think I like stripping myself like this? I have my pride you know but look at it this way. At least now you have a cover story, so people won't be thinking you're doing something strange. She'll most likely tell your sensei about this and he'll leave it at that, or at least he should."

She had to admit it was quick thinking on her part, not many even knew what she looked like in this village so she was pretty safe there. She had been surprised to learn that this woman had the curse seal, from the sounds of it she was one of the first test groups, which one she had no idea, but it was certainly interesting. She also noticed the slight blush on the boy as he tried not to look at her. She grinned, it was kind of funny, the big bad Uchiha was still just a boy after all.

"What's the matter, you haven't seen a naked girl before?" Tayuya laughed. "Like you'd know what the fuck to do with one anyway."

Now Sasuke openly glared at the girl, "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh please you don't think I haven't heard all the stories while I've been out?" She said to him getting closer. "She pretty much said it, all those girls and you never picked out one? So what the almighty Uchiha clan dies with you huh? What a sad end, so you just can't get it up or you just fucking gay or something?"

"I have a responsibility to both avenge my clan and ensure that when I do plan to revive my clan I have to pick the right woman!" He shouted at her. This girl was infuriating at times, he just couldn't understand it. "She has to be strong and have the makings of a great ninja. I don't want some weak girl that can't do anything."

"Huh, sounds like that Temari girl again, looks like you missed out on that, the other girls I've seen in this village are a joke," Tayuya had seen females of their age and she was disgusted by them. Only the chunin level ones seemed to have grown out of whatever it was that made girls in this village so weak. "Too bad if you stay you'll have to pair up with some air head, I weep for any children from that union."

"Oh, and you think maybe Sound has anything to offer?" Sasuke asked her. "I remember that Kin girl she wasn't much, hell she was taken out by that Nara boy."

Tayuya hadn't known Kin at least not personally, but she had served Orochimaru to the fullest in the end. "You bastard, she died for our village and for Orochimaru." She gripped him by his shirt and the next thing she knew he pushed her back up against a wall.

He held her there with her arms pinned to her sides and her towel fell. Both froze at that moment as they locked eyes.

"Go ahead and peek you little fucker," She sneered at him. "I doubt it will be the only thing you can do to a woman."

"Don't you ever shut up," He told her and he wasn't sure why but he thought of a way to silence her. He surprised her by smashing his mouth to hers. At first she didn't do anything but she figured anything to seduce him would work so she went with it. She didn't mean to actually enjoy it, that was a surprise, it wasn't kind or soft or anything you'd find in some cheap romance novel. It was more animalistic all the heat in their argument seemed to transfer into it. He growled into her mouth and she returned it, feeling her body go on fire for a moment.

Then he suddenly pulled away, he took a breath and then smirked at her. "So that's how to keep you quiet."

She blushed as she pushed him off her and quickly went to get her clothing. "Fucker!" She yelled at him but she couldn't forget the heat on her lips.

Sasuke for his part sat down thinking on what he did he couldn't find her attractive did he? She was loud, had a dirty mouth, they fought and things were heated. But she didn't back down from him, she was strong and knew the kind of pain he did. As he sat there he was just too confused on what to think at the moment, but he knew things might get more complicated from now on.

**Next up Chapter 31: The Choice**


	31. The Choice

**AN: Again I had to remove the lemon scene from this story maybe I'll post this unedited version somewhere else.**

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 31: The Choice**

Sasuke wasn't looking forward to the day he hadn't slept well as his mind kept going back to that moment with Tayuya. Things were awkward around them that morning as well, as they both avoided the other. Maybe a line had been crossed but why did he kept going back to that moment? Honestly it had been to just shut her up but it didn't make sense to actually enjoy it. At any rate although he left his home to join his team it wasn't a break from it. Knowing that Kakashi had asked Anko to talk to him, and what she had seen, he had a good idea that Kakashi would know he had a naked girl at his place.

He sighed as he thought about that problem on the way to the training field. On the one hand it was a damn annoyance to deal with this. He knew Kakashi might call him out on it, if nothing else but as just joking around. On the other hand, if word got around that he was seeing someone, maybe it would stop all those girls. Not one day went by when someone tried to give him something, ask him for dates or other things. They just couldn't get it, that he just wasn't interested in them.

So he figured if he played along with this whole farce he could get some peace at least from girls constantly bugging him for dates.

He walked into the field to see Sakura, Temari and Naruto already there. No surprised when Sakura waved to him and said a good morning to him. He was looking forward to stopping her constant fawning over him. Honestly, she didn't know the first thing about him, they hardly knew each other and he didn't have any romantic feelings for her. So why did she constantly try and gain his affections? At least lately she was training more so she wouldn't be useless on missions.

He noticed Naruto and Temari together as usual and Tayuya's words from earlier came back. Looking at the taller female he had to think that she might have had a point about Temari. She was a very good ninja, better than any of the other females their own age in this village that is. As the last Uchiha he thought that any political marriage would have used him. He wasn't sure how he felt about her, but she at least had skills he could respect and was strong.

But who did they chose? Looking at the blonde haired boy next to her goofing off and showing off for Temari, who was trying not to smile at his antics, Sasuke couldn't help but feel that whoever came up with this idea was brain dead. That or they didn't know Naruto well enough honestly the guy was the dead last, an idiot, had no sense of the word subtle either. Yet they picked Naruto over him that was what really ticked off Sasuke. He had been passed over for Naruto that was the thing that really pissed him off about the whole issue. The Dead Last was picked over the Uchiha. It was an insult now that he thought about it.

Sasuke's dark mood didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"What the hell is his problem today," Naruto sighed as he was balancing himself on a tree branch as they waited for Kakashi. "I mean he always seems to have a stick up his ass about something."

Temari cast a look to Sasuke and frowned, she had seen it too. In fact he had been getting more and more moody lately. Hard to believe she once thought him handsome when they first met at the chunin exams. Now that she got to know him, she was kind of thankful that the elders of both villages choose Naruto. She didn't want to think what kind of cold and emotionless marriage she might have been trapped in.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what did Baa-chan say?" Naruto asked their pink haired team mate.

"Oh, she said that she would agree to train me," Sakura smiled seeing the surprised looks from Temari and even Sasuke who overheard this. "I went to the Hokage yesterday and asked her if she would personally train me. I did my best to convince her that I wanted to be a medic and I guess it worked. She's going to train me when I have spare time and when I'm not on missions or with the team."

"Wow, that's impressive," Temari wasn't kidding. Being trained by the legendary Tsunade herself was a big deal. Her name was known far and wide in the ninja world for good reason. Learning from her personally would most likely be intense but well worth the experience. Temari smiled approvingly at Sakura. "Well that's a good step in your training. I guess this means no extra training from me."

Sakura bowed her head a bit to Temari to show her respect for the older girl. "I know but I want to thank you for everything anyway. I learned a lot from you and I hope to one day be as strong as you are."

"With Tsunade, you might end up being stronger," Temari wasn't sure how far Sakura would go but under Tsunade there was just no telling what the young girl would be able to accomplish.

Sasuke meanwhile was nearly floored. Now Sakura was getting special training, Sakura the weakest member of their team was going to train under the Hokage. He would have laughed at this if he could. The bitter taste of acid filled his mouth and stomach as he seemed to be passed over yet again. He needed training to fight and kill Itachi, did no one in this village cared that the man that murdered the entire clan that helped found this village still walked free? Years had gone by and what had this village done? Put his brother in a bingo book and that was pretty much it.

It made him sick, his clan helped created this village, they were the police force, they had been the backbone of this village for a time and what did that earn the Uchiha?

Nothing.

Where were the ANBU when his family and clan were being slaughtered? Where was the justice for what had been done? He had to avenge his clan because no one else seemed to be up for the task, but how was he supposed to meet his brother without the proper training.

It wasn't like he wanted to be a medic, but Tsunade could in theory teach him things that he could use. That monstrous strength if he could learn it was a prime example. But it was all going to Sakura, if being passed over by Naruto was an insult this was a slap in the face to him.

"Ah good you're all here." Kakashi's voice broke everyone out of their thoughts as they viewed the lazy jonin.

"You're late," Naruto and Sakura said in unison as usual. Truth was he was only an hour late so it wasn't too bad, but still he was late.

Kakashi smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah sorry about that. I had a run in with a friend who told me something interesting." He cast a look to Sasuke.

Sasuke felt the man was grinning, it was hard to tell with the mask, but he figured to get it out there. "Just get it over with I knew she would tell you what she saw."

"Well it is juicy news," Kakashi smiled again as he nearly giggled at the thought.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked jumping off the tree. "Is there something going on?"

Kakashi looked to Sasuke who just sighed and nodded before facing the other way. Kakashi looked to his other students. "It seems like you're not the only one with someone Naruto. I asked a friend to talk to Sasuke about something turns out I might have been worried for nothing." He cast a look to Sasuke. "You know if you wanted to get home early to visit that girl friend of yours you just had to say so. We could have worked something out."

"Girlfriend!" Was the single reaction out of the other three members of the team.

Sakura looked to Sasuke, she felt like her heart was breaking. She was trying so hard to be stronger to be a better ninja. Yes it was primarily for the team but a part of her had hoped that he would also take notice of her. Now he had someone? There were so many questions, who was this girl? When did this all start? Why hadn't it been her?

Suddenly her good mood in being trained by the Hokage didn't seem as happy anymore. She felt like someone was ripping her heart in two. All this time, she had hoped that maybe it could be possible but was everything she had sacrificed, her friendship with Ino, her training that she should have done. All the years trying to get him to notice her as a girl, it all just seemed like a waste in that moment.

"What the hell man," Naruto said to the dark haired boy. "Since when did you get one?"

"What does it matter?" Sasuke told him. "My personal life is just that, personal."

"Well what about..." He paused as he cast a quick look to Sakura. He could see how hurt she was by this. It was no secret that she must have liked Sasuke as much as he had before Temari entered his life. A bit of him still did care she was his first crush even if Temari was his greatest love. So had also become a better friend to him recently and he didn't like to see his friend's hurt.

"Well what about what?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto wanted to say something about how Sakura felt about him but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Temari shaking her head slightly. She knew what he was going to say but the last thing Sakura needed was to bring in that. She cast the younger girl a sympathetic look, she had never had her heart broken like this before, Naruto was her first and only real relationship in her life. The only real loss she had was her mother, well there was her father but honestly the man was only a father in name really.

"So who is she?" Sakura asked surprising the two blondes.

"Just someone I met recently," Sasuke didn't want to give too much away. He figured the less they knew the better.

It was the usual D rank missions, deliveries with needing to pain a fence. Naruto of course got covering in paint. Temari had smirked at it and he had the bright idea to take some of the pain on his fingers and wipe them on her cheek. This led into a retaliation by her and soon both were being covered in pain, although Temari while a bit mad at being so messy had to admit she enjoyed it.

After that they broke for the day, since Naruto and Temari needed to get cleaned up they were all for it. Sakura said she had to meet the Hokage for training at any rate and made a simple goodbye. The entire day had been hard on her, she tried to not look at Sasuke but every time she did she felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. This left Kakashi and Sasuke alone for a moment and the Uchiha wanted to ask their jonin sensei something.

Kakashi was about to leave himself before he noticed Sasuke looking at him, he could tell the young man had something to ask of him. "Yes?"

"I need extra training," Sasuke told him. "If the others are done I want to train some more. I need work on the sharingan and you're the only person that could teach me anything."

Kakashi sighed in all honesty he was kind of tired and was looking forward to a nice relaxing read. Plus all in all Kakashi had to learn much of the sharingan by trial and error as he wasn't allowed to read any of the Uchiha scrolls on the subject. He knew a few genjutsus with the eye, how to the basics worked but there was supposed to be special abilities found in each eye, unique to that person. Kakashi never did figure out what Obito's might have been, there might have been hints in the Uchiha scrolls but he was fine with what he knew.

"Honestly I'm not sure what else I can teach you," Kakashi admitted to the boy. "There are a few things but I think once you get the basics down, it's all up to you to figure out the rest. Plus I don't know everything about it."

Sasuke didn't look pleased with that, "Then how about something else? A new jutsu or something?"

Kakashi sighed this was the same old thing with him, always asking for more. Didn't he get enough when they trained for a full month together? The boy still wanted more and more power and he kept telling him that he had enough. "Honestly at the point you are now, the only thing you can do is train up what you have. You have already an impressive amount of skills for a genin, it's best to sharpen those and improve them."

"If you only focus on more and more techniques they won't be very strong or effective. Plus now that you're in a relationship you don't want to keep your lady friend waiting," He smiled before turning into a puff of smoke.

Sasuke couldn't believe that he had just been blown off like that. If he had been angry before he was getting close to livid right now. He made his way to his home in a foul mood as his mind started to think on what possible future he had in this village.

**-Uchiha Compound-**

Tayuya was having just as hard a time as Sasuke was with both lack of sleep and dealing with what happened yesterday. She was irritable as she kept tossing and turning in the night, her mind refusing to let her rest. But no, her mind kept replaying yesterday all night long. Worse was in the morning she couldn't even look at him in the eye. She hated this, she wasn't the type to be like this, it made no sense. Why was she like this?

She spent the entire day trying to keep busy and to take her mind off things. But she couldn't, it just kept crawling in there and she was near the point of pulling her hair out and screaming in frustration. If her team could see her now they would laugh at her. The supposedly strong Tayuya, acting like a such a girl. It was kind of sickening to her, but she was having a hard enough time as it was without thinking of what they would say about it. So she spent the entire day with her mood going worse and worse as time went on. She cleaned up the room she was staying in, she even nearly started to clean up the house but suddenly realized this wasn't her house and why should she clean it?

So she was bored.

She tried to spend the time training but her concentration was off. Eventually she just went to the bathroom for a long soak in some hot water. She tried to relax as the warm water soothed her body. She tried to think on things and wonder how she got herself into this fix. Sure Orochimaru told her to do whatever it took but she wasn't supposed to feel anything if she did try this out. She tried to be reasonable, this was just some physical thing that was all she figured.

But still it was annoying, it was distracting and she couldn't afford to be distracted.

Since the hot bath wasn't working like it should she got out and drained the water. Drying off she put on a robe and figured to get dressed in her room. She got into the hall still in an irritated mood and saw that she wasn't alone anymore. Sasuke was standing there also in just a bad a mood as she was although he paused at the state of dress she was in. Her long red hair was still somewhat damp and clung to her body and the robe was opened enough to see a leg and part of her cleavage.

He must have been looking a bit too hard as one of her hands came up to close the gap in her rope, her face slightly flushed. "What the fuck are you looking at!" She yelled at him.

"Oh please I bet you planned for that just like yesterday," Sasuke shot back feeling like he needed to get his frustration out on something.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Like I don't know that female ninja are supposed to seduce their targets."

"Oh please like you would know what to do with a woman," Tayuya shot back smirking at him. "You kiss like a little boy."

"What was that?" Sasuke said darkly. He had been simmering all day and the last thing he was going to allow was to let this fouled mouth girl bad mouth him. He already felt like the entire village had slighted him, he wasn't going to let his 'house guest' do the same thing. "Maybe I just felt sorry for you, after all who would want a foul mouthed little girl that didn't know what she was doing anyway."

She ground her teeth at the dark haired boy, "Little girl? I'll have you know that I'm at least a year older than you!" She was right up in his face now a finger poking his chest. He didn't like that so he quickly grabbed her wrist. "Let go of my wrist or I'll spoil those fucking good looks of yours so you won't have to worry about women throwing themselves at you!"

"Oh so now I'm good looking huh?" He smirked at her. "Too bad you're not my type."

"Oh and what's that? A competent ninja or do you actually like those useless little girls all over you. Or do you really have a thing for the guys? Wouldn't that be the biggest joke in the world." She laughed at him. "The last Uchiha who has to rebuild his clan, but oh wait, he can't because he likes boys."

Sasuke had enough of people laughing at his clan for one day, plus there was only one way to shut up this fouled mouth red head. He pushed her against a wall to her surprise and kissed her again. Despite herself she responded in kind. It wasn't about love or crushes or anything, it was pure animal instinct that seemed to take over them. They went at each other like they were trying to devour each other. Tayuya had no idea what was going on, only that one moment they were yelling at each other and now she was sucking the air out of his lungs. She felt like she was burning inside, she hadn't felt this fire before in her life but it was hard to resist.

Sasuke didn't know what was going on either, only that the entire day had been stressful and irritating. He needed something else to focus on, something that he could let out all his built up emotions. Something exploded inside of him that moment and he just couldn't stop himself. Before he knew it they nearly crashed through the door to her room. He gave no mind as his body seemed to work as if on autopilot.

He pushed her down onto the bed but she didn't give up that easily as she quickly threw him onto his back and attacked him as well. This wasn't anything gentle this was more primal, animalistic as she nearly ripped off his top. She saw that he might grow into a fine figure one day, he was on his way that much was for sure as she ran her hands over his exposed flesh.

There was no love making here, this was pure raw passionate sex in the most carnal senses. It was like an animal had been released from both of them as they tore each other's clothing off and went at it with wild abounded lust.

When Tayuya woke up, it was still night by the looks of things. She turned to look on the other side of the bed to see Sasuke was sitting facing the window. She sighed as she wondered if this had even been a good idea to begin with. It was stupid and now what was she going to do? She sat up facing away from him as she thought of what to say now. Did he regret what they did, did she that was something she wasn't sure about. She was still feeling really confused right now about all of this.

"You said that Orochimaru can give me the power I need, right?" Sasuke asked her knowing she was awake.

"Yes," She told him as she looked over her shoulder at him.

He was silent looking through the window as he was coming to terms with something. "You know I was told all these stories about my clan. How before there were villages, they were one of the greatest of clans. One of the most feared and respected in the world. How with the First Hokage they created this village, became the police force for this village since the start."

"I was brought up in that environment. Everyone respected my clan everyone looked up to the Uchiha. I was so proud to be an Uchiha, I still am. But you know what I recently have come to terms with? This village owes my clan so much and when they were slaughtered they did nothing. I need to avenger my clan and rebuild it and I'm overlooked. Everyone is growing and learning more, hell even Sakura is getting training from the Hokage myself. They even paired Naruto of all people up with Temari for this marriage and I know what kinds of things are expected from that."

"I need power and today I asked Kakashi for more training. To help me with understanding my sharingan or anything else but he blew me off." Sasuke clenched his teeth remembering that. "You however are the only person that is offering to give me what I need. The only person offering to give me the power I need to take down Itachi."

He looked at her and she was surprised by the intensity of his look. "I'm going to ask you this once. Will Orochimaru give me the power I need for my revenge like he gave you and will I be able to take down Itachi?"

Tayuya nodded, "Yes. Although he wants you to be a host for him by now he's already most likely picked a new one. You'll have three years to train under him and kill Itachi before you have to uphold your end of the bargain."

Sasuke thought about it, three years was a lot of time to train and it could be possible. Orochimaru was one of the Sannin, there was no telling what he could learn under him. Although even if this was able to complete his revenge there was still the question of the restoration of his clan. He looked to Tayuya, maybe there was hope for that as well. But he would have to see where things went but he felt his choice was clear to him.

"If I choose to go with you, how long will it take to make preparations to leave? Do you need to send some kind of signal or can we leave right now?" He asked her.

She blinked for a moment before grinning. She got up and looked through her clothing and picked up a piece of paper she kept on her persons at all times. She opened the paper and with a kunai she pulled from her clothing too and made a small cut on her finger. She ran the blood across the paper as a seal showed up. Soon it disappeared, this was a signal summoning seal that she had been given. She wasn't sure how it worked only that it had something to do with Orochimaru's summon snakes. She had been on the receiving end of these a snake would show up among them with a message or just some kind of symbol which they were looking for.

This was to signal the rest of her team that they were coming and to get ready. They were camping far enough away to keep out of sight of any patrols but close enough that they would get to them easily enough if they kept a fast pace. "There, my team will be waiting for us and if you really want to do this we do it now."

"Then I'll pack, we leave tonight." He told her.

"You sure about this? Once you leave there is no turning back." She warned him.

He paused a moment before putting on his clothing. "There's nothing for me here."

**Next up Chapter 32: Leaving**

**Sorry it took so long, I was having some issues with this chapter.**


	32. Leaving

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 32: Leaving**

**-Sound Village-**

In one if his chambers the leader of the Sound Village, Orochimaru was resting up. The underground base was like all the others. Rock walls made out of the ground, cold and had many tunnels all over the place. The room lit only by candle light showed Orochimaru all wrapped up in bandages. The new body was working out well so far, he just hated the time it took to make the modifications he needed to them. At least this time he was back in a male body, not that he really cared but the few female bodies he had inhabited took more modifications.

The first time that he took a female host it was an adjustment period, getting used to it. Plus he had to get rid of certain other problems that only females have. He didn't want to deal with that after all he would only use the body for a few years before shedding it away. There was really no point in having to deal with those issues while using it for that small amount of time.

But the new body was a freedom for also the pain he had been inflicted with. The arms of his previous body slowly rotting away, that had been unpleasant to say the least. Now he had no more of that hellish pain racking his body at every waking moment. Plus he could use his hands again, the time he spent unable to do the simplest of things with his hands, had been a great humiliation to him. He flexed his hands as he tried to get a feel for them. It would take time to break in the new body but time is something he now had plenty of.

There was a knock on his door as Kabuto entered, "The snake summon from Tayuya has been sent."

"Ah excellent," Orochimaru grinned. The rest of the Sound Four would already be on their way to meet up with them. He had hoped that the transfer to Sasuke could have gone earlier but no matter. He would have the sharingan. "I had to admit it took her a bit longer than I thought to get him to leave."

"You sound so sure that she would have accomplished her mission," Kabuto asked his master. Truth was he didn't think much of the girl, she was strong for her age but beyond a good fighter he didn't see her as being one that could convince anyone of anything.

"I planned things out from the start," Orochimaru smirked behind the bandages. "You see you must never underestimate how basic needs, desires and instincts are always playing inside of humans. People try to think they are above animals and although people are more complex, they still fall back on their basic needs."

"The girl's past would help make it seem that Sasuke-kun isn't alone in the world that there is someone else that knows his pain and can understand. That would help open the door and knowing her, she would have told him in order to gain some trust. Although she's not in the least diplomatic there is another thing I worked on. Did you give her the injections I asked before she left?"

"Of course and I have been wondering, what did you have me give her?" Kabuto asked him. He had only been given two vials to inject into the girl. He hadn't seen the compound before, obviously one of Orochimaru's experiments.

Orochimaru chuckled, "You see like animals, people respond to certain stimuli. Although they are not aware of it, there are things such as the scent of pheromones that get registered. One of them was to help her increase this amount, making her more desirable."

"A 'love potion'?" Kabuto smirked as he said it, it sounded kind of childish to say it out loud.

"Hardly, this is science not fantasy," Orochimaru said annoyed. "You see the pheromones would only open the door one way. She was told to try and get close and keep close to him, what she didn't realize was that she was slowly overloading his senses."

"He won't be able to resist his primal urges after some time, all it will need is some kind of trigger. And you know what the greatest thing is? He could actually form an attachment to the girl because of it. Controls are very important for a leader to have over those that follow him. I need insurance to have some leverage over the boy."

"And the second one?" Kabuto asked now interested.

"A solution that was similar, it would heighten her sexual desires slowly as well. Against an emotional attachment could be formed. Like I said, leverage is a very important thing and although she is totally loyal it doesn't hurt to add more control now and then. Although I had a feeling she would do anything to get him to join us, I wanted to be sure."

Kabuto had to admit that Orochimaru was one to play on people's desires and weaknesses. It was like his master could see a person's weakness and use that to his advantage with no morals to get in the way either. "If you want to ensure that Sasuke-kun joins us, are you not worried that the Leaf will make a pursuit team?"

Orochimaru considered that for a moment, it was sure that Konoha wouldn't let their only Uchiha left to just run off. Although the rest of the Sound Four would be on the way, they might be over powered if Konoha could send a good enough force."

"You might be right," Orochimaru conceded. "Here is what I want you to do..."

**-Konoha-**

Sakura yawned as she slowly made her way home she had just finished with her training. Right after she left her group she had met with the Hokage for physical training. Or as Sakura called it, learning to survive to see the end of the day, she was sure she would be feeling a lot of her new training tomorrow. After that she was taken to where she would learn the medical side to her training. Shizune had helped to overlook her with the Hokage got busy. Mainly it was just all theory right now, once she had a working knowledge she would be put that into practice. There was so much information and she had only just scratched the surface of it all.

But she was glad for this chance she knew that she could become a useful member for her team at this point. She felt that she had made the right choice after all. It was pretty dark out, thankfully she told her parents that she would be coming home late tonight after dinner. Sakura wasn't sure what she wanted to do first, a hot bath or just go straight to bed. Both sounded nice to her at this moment but she would decide when she got home. She looked around, hardly anyone was around, all the shops were closed up and only the late night clubs or bars which were deeper in the village were open.

Currently she was on the main road from one of the massive gates that ran through the center of the village. This was the quickest path to get home but also the most barren. Not one person would be on this road at this hour she bet, all the homes were further away so there was no need for someone to be on this path. So you could imagine her confusion when she noticed two people walking towards her. At first because of the dark and the light the street lights were giving (which wasn't much) she couldn't make out who at first.

Then she was it was Sasuke but the person next to him she didn't know. It was a girl that much she could tell in the low light, one with long red hair. At first she stopped as they noticed her, Sakura thought that this girl must be the girlfriend she was told about. She looked a bit older, was that the type that he looked for, older girls? It might explain why no girl in their class had ever caught his eye, but then she noticed something else. They were both carrying packs, not only that she noticed the girl wore shoes that only ninja wear. But she never had seen this girl in the village before.

While Sakura's mind was taking all this in, Sasuke had cursed his luck. When he saw someone coming he had hoped it wouldn't be anyone that knew him, at least personally knew him. Of all people it had to be Sakura, if it was a stranger then they might not have noticed or bluffed his way by them. He could already tell that she was making conclusions on what she was seeing. Despite all her weaknesses she was smart, too smart sometimes.

"This going to be a problem?" Tayuya asked him feeling the tension building up.

"Let me handle this," Sasuke told her.

"Sasuke-kun, what's going on?" Sakura asked him. "Why are you with this person and why are you two packed as though you're leaving the village?" She wasn't sure what was going on but something really didn't feel right.

"We're going to a romantic getaway so you can just go along now," Tayuya said to Sakura as she placed her arm around Sasuke's. She could feel Sasuke's glare as he wanted to handle things but honestly this was just too fun. This was obviously some girl that had some crush or something on Sasuke, well time for the girl to learn he was off the market and leave.

Sakura noticed how Sasuke gave a small glare but he didn't remove his arm from hers or any of the other things he normally did when a girl tried something like that. He didn't even call the red head a name or something, saying that she was being annoying or anything else. She knew that he was seeing someone, but knowing about it and seeing it were just two separate things. She hadn't even came to terms that all her efforts had been wasted, then this comes out in front of her.

But despite this, there was no way that Sasuke had permission to leave the village. You couldn't just leave just like that, even if it was to visit a visiting town you needed to fill out a location form. This was to keep track of their ninja and also if someone went mission, then they had a place to start looking. It was a security feature that all villages used just in case something happened. But even if he did, Team 7 would have been informed and he certainly wouldn't be leaving in the middle of the night like this.

It was like he was trying to avoid being seen, but that wouldn't make sense, none of this made sense to her.

"Go home Sakura," Sasuke told her as he and Tayuya started to walk past her. "This doesn't concern you."

Sakura watched as he walked by her with that girl hanging on his arm, something in her just snapped. All the emotions she had been bottling up, all pain and uncertainty just couldn't be contained anymore.

"Sasuke-kun wait!" Sakura yelled out making the two stop. "Please I don't understand what's going on. Why have you been so distance lately, why are you with this girl? Why are you two leaving in the middle of the night? Please I want to know, I have to know! Don't you know that we care about you...that I care about you?"

"Oh I think I'm going to be sick," Tayuya said as she unlinked her arm to glare at the younger girl. "What next you're going to say you're in love with him or something? What a joke you are."

Sakura's fist clenched in her hands, "I...I do love him! I love him more than anything, more than you ever would!"

"Please you don't know the first thing about him," Tayuya told her with a sneer. "You can't understand his pain, what he's going through and what he needs. You say you 'love' him? You don't even know the meaning of the word. You're just some silly little girl playing ninja while trying to make the boy you have a crush on fall for you. What, you got some silly fantasy life built around it already?"

"Shut up! Who the hell are you anyway?" Sakura could feel the hot tears starting to fall. Her heart was breaking and she needed to know why her heart had to suffer. "I try so hard to have him open up to me so I could understand him. I don't like him in pain and I try so hard for just for him to see me."

Tayuya wanted to laugh at how pathetic this was. "Well that right there proves my point. You'll never understand him because unless you know his pain he'll never open up. I do and I'm giving him everything he needs, while you just hold him back."

"That's not true," Sakura said weakly. She knew she was the weak link in the team but she was trying her hardest to be better.

"Sakura stop this," Sasuke said not even looking at her. "You're just embarrassing yourself."

"S-Sasuke-kun..." Sakura said softly.

"This village had done nothing for me but hold me back I see this now," He told her. "This village holds nothing for me anymore. I need to be strong and I can't do this here."

"Y-you're leaving," Sakura came to the realization of what was going on. He was leaving with this girl, she wasn't sure why but she knew she had to be the reason why he was saying such things. "Please don't go! I need you here, please I love you too much!"

"God you're sickening," Tayuya said to her. "You said you love him again and yet you think that's going to change anything. Here's a little information for you, just a couple of hours ago we got done having sex how's that grab you?"

Sakura looked on horrified at the woman.

"That's right," Tayuya smirked seeing the pain on the other girl's face. "I gave myself to him and he accepted. You want to know what he's like in bed? Shall I tell you the sounds he makes or what he likes to do?"

"Shut up," Sakura shouted out closing her eyes not wanting to hear this. She had been wanting for Sasuke to be her first everything. Her first love, her first kiss, her first time...but this girl got there before her. For some reason Sasuke wanted this stranger more than a girl that tried everything to gain his heart.

"Don't make this anymore difficult," Sasuke told her giving her a cold look over his shoulder.

"I...I won't let you go!" Sakura yelled out. She knew that if he left he would never see him again, plus what would happen to his status if he abandoned the village. He would be labelled as a missing nin, he would be hunted for his entire life. She had to yell out to get someone to hear her and stop this from happening.

Just before she yelled the wind was knocked out of her. She tried to gasp for air after Tayuya's fist left her stomach. The older girl grabbed her hair and sent another few shots to Sakura's ribs. Sakura was still too weak from her training to put up any kind of fight. Her arms were already feeling sluggish and without the air and the pain it was hard to make them move at all. She was thrown to the ground as she managed to cough as an arm held her stomach.

"You know, it's girls like you that pretend to be ninja that just piss me the fuck off," Tayuya said with a kick to the ribs. She was sure she heard a crack as at least one of them broke. Sakura cried out in pain as her body was racked in pain. "Shall I kill her?"

Sasuke thought about it, Sakura was a very annoying girl but she had been on his team and she had proved useful a few times. She had defended him when he was unconscious in the Forest of Death, so maybe this would be his way to even the scales. He didn't want to owe anyone anything so he considered this his payment for that. "Just knock her out, we're wasting time with her."

"Tck, fine," Tayuya said and gave a kick to Sakura's head. Leaving the pink haired girl on the ground beaten and slightly bloodied, Tayuya knew that when the girl woke up she would hardly be able to stand and if she had dislocated the jaw, the girl wouldn't be able to talk for a bit. Although she wasn't sure about the jaw thing, she could try again but Sasuke was right, they needed to leave.

The two of them left her there as they made their way to the main gate. They picked this moment because the lookouts would be getting tired and bored, plus they knew how to cross the protection field without alerting the village. With the night covering their tracks it would be morning before they knew what was going on.

**-Morning, Uzumaki Residence-**

Temari woke up in their bed feeling good. She slowly became aware of her husband sleeping against her. She was on her side with him behind her, an arm around her waist. She couldn't stop the smile that form on her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed his warmth. She could feel his breathing on her neck which tickled a bit but she didn't mind that either. Honestly at this moment she felt like she wanted to sleep in for once. They weren't supposed to meet up with their team until the afternoon and she figured that she could sleep in.

After all they were all kept busy to help the village recover. That made her feel a pang of guilt, knowing what Suna had been tricked into doing to this village and itself. She had slowly come to see this village as her second home and as she got used to it and meeting new people, she felt a sense of ease here. In Suna in such a hostile environment the people were a bit different. Because in the dessert every day out there could be a fight for survival but that was not so here. Maybe that was why so many felt that the Leaf were 'weak', because they lived in a pleasant area with no worries over things like water or the environment.

But that was just what others wanted to see, in actuality the village was very closely knit together. Everyone worked with everyone it was no wonder that teamwork was a major teaching in this village for its ninja. That they were stronger together than on their own but right now none of that mattered to her. Right now she just wanted to sleep in her comfortable bed with Naruto with her.

Of course whatever god or gods were listening to her thoughts choose that moment to torment her. A knocking on the door was heard and she growled in frustration. She checked the clock by the bed and it was still too early for visitors. Whoever it was she hoped it was just someone trying to sell something and then would go away if she ignored it. But it didn't stop in fact the next knocks were louder.

She sighed as she got out of the bed, casting a look at Naruto who was still asleep. She really was envious at how deep he could sleep at times. Putting on a robe she marched angrily down the stairs hoping that whoever it was had better have a good excuse. She was having a good morning and now it was ruined. She swung open the door angrily just before the person knocked again.

"What?" She snapped at the person before realizing who it was.

It was a masked ANBU officer who flinched at her voice, "I'm sorry Uzumaki-san, but the Hokage requested you two to her office as soon as possible and to dress for a mission."

For a moment she blinked wondering at what he called her before mentally slapping her head. She kept on forgetting her name change. It was still something she was getting used to as not many people called her that, usually just Temari.

"A mission already?" Temari couldn't believe her luck. Did she disrespect a shrine or a Buddha statue at some point? She didn't think so but whatever had cursed her she would fine out and deal with it, this was getting ridiculous.

"I'm sorry but I wasn't told the specifics," he said to her. "Only to get you both to the tower."

"Alright we'll be there as fast as possible," Temari told him. The masked man nodded and then disappeared. She wasn't sure if he had been a shadow clone or just that thing Kakashi did sometimes when he made a quick exit. Either way something major had to be going on, you don't just get woken up early in the morning for nothing. She sighed, maybe they could grab something to eat on the way there, it would have to be something small and she would need some coffee.

She raced up the stairs to the bedroom. "Naruto wake up and get ready we have a mission!"

"Huh?" Naruto said groggily as he rubbed an eye. "What?"

He felt something hit his face as he pulled it off seeing it was Temari's sleepwear. That got him more awake as he looked to see his young wife stripping naked.

"Hurry up, we need to shower and get something to eat and it will save time if we both jump in," Temari said in a practical manner. Even if there was a slight blush on her face but she couldn't think on that. They had a mission although she made a mental note to make it a cold one to prevent either of them having any ideas.

"Uh, yeah okay," Naruto wasn't sure what was going on. He only heard mission and shower together. He gulped as he tried to get undressed wondering what was going on.

One cold shower later and some toast in her mouth and Naruto slurping the last of an instant ramen cup they were running towards the Hokage tower. She was grateful that Naruto had taken the time to make two shadow clones to make a quick breakfast and get their clothing and gear ready. Temari was cursing that she didn't get her morning coffee while Naruto was still complaining about how they had to use a cold shower.

Naruto threw away the ramen cup in a public garbage can before they entered the tower and made their way into the Hokage's office. The door was already opened and they saw Tsunade was there with Shizune, but what was really surprised was Sakura sitting in a chair talking to someone who was drawing an image.

"Baa-chan, this better be important," Naruto said irritated that he had to get up early. He liked sleeping in when he could and he actually liked it when Temari was with him too.

Tsunade gave him a serious look, this wasn't the look she normally gave him this was the look of the Hokage. Now that he looked around he felt a certain tension in the room. He could tell that Temari was feeling it as well. Sakura looked a little ragged as well and she seemed to be favouring her side slightly in the chair.

Although Sakura's injuries had mostly been healed her body was still sore, the bruise the on the side of her face was taken care of but her ribs needed time to heal naturally. They were knitted together now, apparently one of them had been broken and another fractured slightly. Still the physical pain she might be in was nothing to the pain she felt in her heart. Sasuke had left them, had left her. She had told him that she loved her, she opened her heart and had it crushed.

"That's all I can remember," Sakura finished sounding very odd to Naruto. It was like she was depressed or something but what could it be? He couldn't remember seeing her like this in his life.

A man nodded his head as he finished his drawing and then flipped it over for Sakura to take a look at. "Is this accurate?"

Sakura took a look as her jaw tightened a bit at the image, "Yeah, that's her."

Tsunade looked at the image as she sighed and turned to Naruto and Temari. "Well while we're waiting for ANBU to find Kakashi we better get started. Last night while Sakura was walking home she met Sasuke and an unnamed female. They were apparently packed and leaving the village."

"What!?" Naruto couldn't believe hearing that.

"It's true," Sakura said looking down at her hands. "I found them, I asked what he was doing and he said he was leaving. He said that…this village held nothing for him anymore. He was leaving to gain more power and she was taking him away. I tried to shout out but…" Her hand went to the injury at her side. Although when she had been found she had been taken to the hospital and healed. When she woke up and said what had happened, the Hokage had been informed immediately.

"That bastard," Naruto growled out. He didn't understand what he was thinking, why would he just leave like that? Plus who was this other girl? He looked at the image but he didn't know her, then something hit him. "Hey could that be the same girl that Kakashi-sensei said might be the girlfriend Sasuke was supposed to have?"

"Yeah I think so," Sakura said in a more defeated tone.

It was at that time that Kakashi walked into the room, he hadn't known what was going on only that the ANBU had been looking for him. Which had been a problem as he hadn't been at his place, in fact he was walking to his home to change as he was still wearing his clothing from last night. Not that anyone would really be able to tell. He and Anko had spent last night together, in fact it seemed that the two of them were spending more time together and not just for sexual release. Sometimes they hung out just to hang out. But when the ANBU found him he felt that something was up.

"Yo," Kakashi said holding up a hand in greeting. Although he could feel some kind of tension in the room, he could nearly smell that something serious was up.

"Kakashi where were you?" Tsunade questioned. "ANBU said that you weren't at your home."

Kakashi knew that he could use one of his normal excuses but those only worked when he was late. For something more serious he had to think of a more plausible lie. Despite what people thought, he could be very good at lying if he actually made an effort with it. And telling everyone here that he wasn't at his place because he spent the night at a female's home, one that his students were familiar with, wasn't the best thing to do.

"I couldn't sleep that well and decided to see if I could get in a little morning training before the day started." He explained which if anyone looked at his clothing might notice it wasn't as neat as a new uniform should be.

Tsunade nodded her head accepting that as she informed him of what happened and Sakura told them the entire story of what happened again. Kakashi took a look at the image and something clicked. When Anko told him about the girl she had given a brief description of the girl.

"You might want to have Anko take a look at this image to be sure but she did say she saw Sasuke with a girl at his place." Kakashi then had to give a brief explanation as to why Anko had been over at his place.

Tsunade nodded and told the ANBU to take the image and find Anko and have her verify it was the same girl. She also had Shizune pull up the list of any ninja that wasn't on missions and currently was in the village. If Sasuke was going to Orochimaru then they had to hurry, the boy already had a lead of several hours. They couldn't let the last of the Uchiha fall into that man's hands, although what they did with him if they caught him was another story. This was a very serious crime and could end up making Sasuke be in imprisoned for life. The only thing in his favour for not being executed was because of his age, rank and this was his only offense.

But despite all of that, abandoning a ninja village was one of the most serious crimes a ninja could do. Most rogue ninja that did so, they had hunter ninja after them for their entire life to be killed on sight by the special task force. Tsunade sighed, she was getting too old for this kind of stuff and these children were too young to have one of their own betray them. Even Orochimaru had turned traitor until they were all adults.

This was something she knew that would forever change their lives, the kids would take it the hardest. She glanced at Sakura and sighed, she couldn't fault the girl. Tsunade knew what it was like to be heartbroken in fact she had gone through it twice. She wasn't sure what was worse, when Dan died in her arms or for Sakura to know that Sasuke was alive but might be a traitor. At least Tsunade had all those memories of Dan she cherished but what would Sakura have? It would he hard but she felt the girl would get over it and might even be stronger for it.

Looking at Naruto, she could tell that a lot of emotions were going through that mind of his. He might take it just as hard but for totally difference reasons. Temari was looking at Naruto with a sense of...sympathy? Well that was a little strange for Tsunade but she wouldn't pry too much into private affairs. Kakashi was masking himself but she knew that for a teacher, he must be going through what the Third had gone through with Orochimaru.

Tsunade sighed, some days she wished she could just stay in bed.

**Next up Chapter 33: The Chase**


	33. The Chase

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 33: The Chase**

Sasuke and Tayuya quickly made their way to the meeting point, they weren't too worried about leaving a trail as they would have a pursuit team on them as soon as Konoha could mobilize one. So they move through the night, only resting now and then to catch their breath and to check to make sure they weren't being followed. Soon after the sun rose was when they found themselves in a clearing in a forest.

"This the place?" Sasuke asked looking around the area.

"Should be," Tayuya said looking around. "That is if they're on fucking time."

"Jeez you have no faith in us or what?" Came a voice from the trees. Three boys roughly Tayuya's age all wearing similar clothing of the Sound Village came into view.

"This is the rest of the team," Tayuya told Sasuke as she started to point them out to him. "The big fat one over there is Jirobo, the one with all the arms is Kidomaru, the last one is Sakon."

Sakon stepped forward as he had been the leader of the group, at least until now when he got the new orders from Orochimaru. The tall boy had worn a string of beads around his neck looking at the boy in front of him. He still couldn't believe that Orochimaru was making this boy the new leader of the team. It kind of burned him inside but he wouldn't go against Orochimaru's orders no matter what they were.

Still was this guy supposed to replace Kimimaro? He didn't see it but he would follow orders, even if he didn't like them. Going against Orochimaru wasn't healthy and hardly anyone lived long enough to do it twice.

"Did you bring it?" Tayuya asked impatiently.

"Of course we brought it," He said defensively.

"Good then we can get started with bringing Sasuke's seal up to the next level while we go." Tayuya told him seeing the interesting look in Sasuke's eyes. He had heard a bit of this but Tayuya did have a bit of worry about this next step. The fact that the seal on them all, killed nine times out of ten, the odds were pretty much as bad for this next part, in fact only a handful that had ever been through this made past this point.

But she had a feeling that he might be able to do this, she didn't know why but he wasn't as weak willed as those in Konoha. It would take all his strong will in order to endure what was to come next. She knew exactly what he would face and she wouldn't wish it on anyone. When you're alone there in the dark it was a constant struggle, like you were constantly drowning in darkness. It felt like you were dying constantly and at any moment if you slipped, just once, you would really die.

She had seen what happened to those that they pulled out that didn't make it. They were dried up, their own bodies turned against them as the curse seal seemed to make their own bodies eat themselves from the inside out.

The Sound Four brought out what they would need, it was a large wooden drum barrel with seal paper on it. This was a specially made device that Orochimaru used to help make the curse seal grow in power. Sasuke looked at it, as Tayuya had explained in more detail on the trip here what was expected. He also knew the risks but he would face them without feat. He hadn't come all this way to have his life end like this. He would pass this, gain more power and learn all he could from Orochimaru.

"Are you ready?" Tayuya felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt a bit of worry about what would happen to him but she masked that. She wasn't sure why she was feeling like this, the boy was arrogant, cold and yet they had shared a bed earlier. It had been pretty nice too and she was wondering what had gotten into her. She never thought of boys before so why was her mind seemed to be thinking about him lately? She didn't understand but there was something about him that attracted her.

Maybe it was the power he had or the potential of the power he could reach, okay sure, he was good looking that she would admit to at least.

"Yes I am," Sasuke said to her as he looked at her for a moment. He was unused to the feelings that he felt when he looked at her. All his life he felt mostly emptiness, hatred, anger and loss. But for some strange reason this fouled mouthed girl was different. She understood him that was something that no one else could even come close to back in Konoha. She was a strong and capable female as well, unlike most other Konoha female ninja of about his age. Plus their night together was…very interesting.

There were obviously some possibilities with her.

He watched at the lid was taken off and he knew this would be a great challenge for him. Taking a moment for himself he entered it a tried to get comfortable, not that it was easy in such a cramp place. The lid slowly started to close as he looked up to see Tayuya's brown eyes looking at him. She didn't look worried in fact he felt that she knew he would be able to do this. For whatever reason he smirked at her before the lid closed it was then he was alone. There was oddly no light, no sound, no anything in here. It was like he had just entered into a void that he could just lose himself in. He snapped his mind back in focus he had to stay focused if he lost his concentration he would never get out of this place.

He wouldn't let this thing beat him, he had lived with the pain of the loss of his family, for being tortured for three days by his older brother twice, he wouldn't let this thing beat him. He still had goals to complete to kill his brother and restore his clan. An image of Tayuya entered his mind and he felt that maybe he was closer to one of those goals now.

On the outside they strapped the container to Jirobo's back, "Why do I have to be the damn pack mule?"

"Because you fucking look like one," Tayuya snapped at him.

"You know I hate it when you curse all the time," the large boy said to her. "What's with you anyway you seem more on edge than normal."

"On edge? Don't you mean more bitchy than normal?" Sakon laughed out.

"Fuck you and you're brother," Tayuya flipped him off for good measure. She really didn't get along with them but they were her team. Actually they had been a team for awhile now and it was hard for them to get along with each other. Sure in battle they would put aside any differences and kill their enemies like a well oiled machine but they all grated on each other in various ways.

"Can't believe the brat is to be our new leader," Sakon sighed in frustration as they started to move out.

"Wait, he's going to be made the leader of our team?" Tayuya knew that Orochimaru wanted Sasuke for a new body. Although they had missed the window to get him to their master in time it would take three years before Orochimaru was ready for a new body. She never really thought what he was going to do with him. The thought of working with him made her feel oddly…please. "So we're the Sound Five again."

"It is a bit nice to be back up to five," Kidomaru commented. "I felt like we levelled down since we lost our fifth."

"Technically he's not entirely 'lost' as you said," Sakon told the six-armed boy. "Although Kabuto is the only thing keeping him alive, Tayuya, do you think this kid can really lead us? He doesn't look like much to me and you spent the most time with him."

"I think he'll fit in." Tayuya said trying not to give open praise. The last thing she needed was for them to learn that there might be something between her and Sasuke. Not that she knew herself whatever it was they had. But sleeping together had changed things he actually had smiled at her as her eyes case a little look to the wooden container. She had never seen him smile at anything and when he had smiled at her she felt a sensation she hadn't expected. Something warm inside but she couldn't place a name for it.

"Anyways we'll see how good he is," Sakon grunted. "Kabuto said he would send reinforcements to help out. Not sure what he meant by that but Lord Orochimaru is not taking chances this time around."

**-Konoha-**

By the same massive gates of Konoha a retrieval team was set up. Given that many ninja were still out on missions and Konoha's forces were stretched thin there weren't many that could go on this mission. Even the genin teams had been split up to make do with certain missions. That and with the need of many Jonins, many of them were out as well a Chunins. Tsunade didn't like to send out so many young ones out.

Sakura had wanted to go but Tsunade forbad it, she was still not fully healed yet and this team would need speed. She knew the girl wanted to go and that was commendable but as Hokage she had to make tough choices. But Sakura was going to see the team off at least, the young girl was adamant about that at least.

Tsunade was looking over all those she could assemble for this team. She saw members of Team Gai, Tenten and Neji were there. Their sensei was on a mission and Lee was still under medical care. The young boy was still recovering from his surgery. It was amazing she had pulled it off to tell the truth, it had been touch and go several times but somehow she managed to save the young boy's ninja career.

Some part of her wished she hadn't, knowing that the young boy might one day die in duty instead of living as a civilian. But she knew that Lee would most likely rather die than not be a ninja. As she understood things, Lee wasn't too pleased with not being on this mission. But he wouldn't be ready for missions until at least two more weeks.

Hinata and Kiba were also here both were great trackers which would be essential for this mission like with Neji. Shino was already out of the village at the moment with their sensei as only two were needed for the mission they were on.

Kakashi was here with Naruto and Temari of course as they had to go as they knew Sasuke the most. Maybe that was a downside too given how close they were but Tsunade needed able bodied people for this. If the last Uchiha went rogue it would be a great political embarrassment they couldn't afford. Plus he was one of their most promising genin, if Orochimaru got his hands on him there was no telling what kind of weapon he would turn Sasuke into.

There was one last addition to the force and that had been with Anko, the special jonin had been sought out to confirm that the girl described by Sakura was the same Anko had seen. It turns out not only had it been the same girl but an ANBU had also knew the image as one of those that Orochimaru had used on his attack on the Third Hokage. It was this reason that Tsunade had placed the woman on the team. In fact when Anko had learned of Orochimaru's involvement the young woman had demanded to go on the mission.

She didn't need two missing nin on her hands plus her skills would be valuable. Plus if Sasuke Uchiha needed to be taken out, Anko would do it without hesitation. Tsunade just hoped it would never come to that. Even if the Uchiha had made a mistake he was still young and could change and no matter what ordering the death of a child just didn't sit well with her. It was times like this she really hated being Hokage, being the one to make orders like this. It was no wonder she drank herself to sleep at times. She wanted to be a healer, to save lives. Yes she would fight and kill for her village but ordering others to do it had never been something she could ever get used to doing.

The entire team was now gathered around one of the massive gates that Sakura had seen Sasuke heading towards so they had a good idea of his trail. Kiba was watching Akamaru sniff the ground for Sasuke's scent it had been good weather and any scent the young pup might be able to get would help in making sure they were on the right path.

Naruto and Temari were gathered around with the others of their generation.

"I can't believe that Sasuke would let that bitch attack you and then just run off," Tenten said to Sakura hearing the full story. "How could he do something like that?"

"I…I don't know," Sakura told the older girl. "He said this village had nothing left for him anymore."

"Damn it," Naruto said angrily. First he had made Sakura sad and now this, sure he loved Temari now but Sakura would always be his first crush and special to him. Plus as a friend and teammate he couldn't let this kind of thing slid. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, we'll get him back even if I have to kick his ass and drag him back here."

"You might want to be prepared for the worst," Neji warned him. "After all he's joining one of our most hated and dangerous enemies, willingly apparently as well. Even if you bring him back he'll have to face judgment for his crimes. Not only acting against a fellow ninja, consorting with the enemy and actions that can be viewed as being a traitor and defection will not be a light sentence on him."

Naruto and Sakura looked at the Hyuga as Sakura had to voice her concern. "What…could happen to him?"

"Execution for starters," Anko said overhearing this and walked over in an uncharacteristic serious fashion. "Desertion or defection alone is punishable by death. Although given he's the last Uchiha we have they might just lock him up for the rest of his life. A few might want to breed him for the sharingan but others might feel that it's just not worth the effort. Given that Itachi killed his clan and still at large and now Sasuke, they might think insanity runs in the family and not take that chance."

"I won't let them do that!" Naruto said to the purple haired woman. "I'm not bringing him back just for some stupid people to kill him!"

"Then be prepared to be a friend to him and kill him on the battlefield," Anko told him. "It might be better that way then being executed or living in a cage his entire life."

"What! How can you say that!" Naruto demanded and felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see Temari looking at him with an expression he couldn't really read on her face.

"Naruto…sometimes you can't save them, no matter how much you want to save them and have things go back to the way they were." Temari paused remembering their last mission. "Take it from me, I've been where you are and you know what I mean."

Naruto did know now what she was talking about, he had been there and seen her fight her old friend and then kill her. Temari had taken it pretty hard and here he was in the exact same position she had been in. He was very quiet as this sunk in, would he have to kill Sasuke or maybe he should ask could he even kill the other boy? He honestly didn't think he could, despite everything Naruto still considered him his friend and rival. He had to at least try and get him back if only to save him from himself. He wasn't sure what Sasuke was thinking but he was at least going to force some answers out of him.

"Naruto…" Sakura spoke up as the young blond looked up at her. "Just do your best, I don't know what is going on but if you can't bring him back…" She paused knowing the kinds of things Naruto did. In all honestly these words were killing her on the inside but she was so unsure now. Sasuke had left, she confessed her love and he did nothing as Tayuya beat her down. Did she and the village mean so little to him that he would do all of this?

"Just be careful," Sakura told him she didn't want to lose anyone else today.

Naruto was at a loss, he would think that if anyone wanted Sasuke back more then him it would be Sakura. He felt totally uncertain now, was he the only one that wanted him back? Even if they did bring him back Anko's words haunted him.

"Alright let's get this started," Kakashi said not wanting to waste anymore time. The more time they took to get moving meant the more time it would give them to get away. They had to capture Sasuke before he left the country, they could in theory continue persuit but that ran risks. If they entered into another country with a shinobi force then they would be forced to deal with that group making it harder to capture Sasuke. Also it could also lead into a diplomatic incident to have a group this large enter into another country.

That was why only four man cells went in at a time, it prevented the idea that another country was invading. It was an unspoken rule between the shinobi nations that's why you found that number of people in a cell. But the worst that could happen is if they entered the territory of the Sound Village. They would have already be at war with them if they could but they were too busy keeping the village afloat and repairing the damage of the failed invasion. It would be certain that if they entered enemy territory it would be impossible to get out without a lot of losses.

Sound would be on the look out for them in case they gave chase so they had to hurry and catch them before they left the country.

"Kiba, I want you up front," Kakashi said to the boy whose nose was just a bit better than Kakashi's own. "Hinata, Neji you two will be on the left and right of him. You two will watch the sides for attack. I'll be up front as well. Tenten, Naruto and Temari will be the center and Anko, I need you protecting our rear."

Anko nodded seeing the plan he was making, it was a pretty good formation. Kiba could track and warn of anything up ahead. The two Hyuga would be able to see if someone was about to attack anywhere especially on the sides. Kakashi up front meant they had the leadership and firepower of a jonin if they needed to assault and enemy head on. The others would make up the grunt work of the core while she was to guard them from a rear attack and give orders if the front got separated from the rest of them.

It was a nice set up although she was wondering about those Sound ninja, they seemed to be more elites despites their young age, of Orochimaru. That meant they could expect some nasty surprises and she wanted to be ready for them.

The team headed out at a dead run they had a lot of ground to cover and they couldn't let the enemy get too far ahead.

Sakura watched them leave wanting to go with them, she hated feeling weak and being left behind. She didn't want to be the one to be left behind anymore she wanted to be the one that went out there to help the team and be useful. But only one day of training didn't mean she was ready. She felt a strong yet soft hand lightly land on her shoulder. She looked up to see the Hokage also looking at the team vanishing off in the horizon.

"I know you want to go out there," Tsunade said softly. "I hated it when I got left behind. As a medic in the war I sometimes had to run the area for the field hospital while my teammates went out there. I always hated it because I never knew what was going to happen, now as Hokage I'm sending out people all the time on dangerous missions but can't go with them to make sure they make it back."

Sakura looked on as she felt she was seeing a side of the Hokage that many never had seen before. Instead of a powerful ninja that ran the village she could see the woman that was behind all of that. Tsunade smiled down at the young girl knowing how she was feeling.

"Come on, Shizune is putting together a medical team to follow the pursuit team and I'm without an assistant," Tsunade turned to walk towards the Hokage Tower.

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked blinking a couple of times.

"Well since you have nothing to do I need your help, besides I can teach you a few things during the breaks," Tsunade walked on hearing the young girl starting to walk behind her. She smiled at that, she knew that she would need someone to help with the office work. But there was more to it than that Sakura would need the work to keep her mind off what was going on. And Tsunade could use the same treatment with work to keep her mind off this as well. Having someone around the office would do her good and she could use someone around or else she would start climbing the walls.

**-Sound Team-**

The Sound ninja were making their way North towards the Land of Sound (formally the Land of Rice Fields) if they could get there they knew they were home free. There was no way that the Leaf would be able to find them, not with all the Sound ninja there and bases scattered all over the land. Unlike other ninja villages, Sound didn't have a single village but multiple ones scattered all over the place. You find one but would never find them all.

But with the extra weight that Jirobo was having to carry their speed was reduced. Besides that Jirobo was the slowest member of the team his speed was further slowed down carrying Sasuke. They also had to be careful, if container fell and broke open or if Sasuke was pulled out prematurely...well they weren't sure what would happen. Only that Orochimaru told them to never have that happen, odds were best that it would kill Sasuke if he didn't complete his personal trail in there.

This wasn't good as this would give time for any pursuit team to catch up to them.

"Where the hell are we going?" Tayuya asked hoping for some kind of plan.

"We're going to head the quickest say home," Sakon told her as they continued to go on. "We'll pass a field and we're going straight through the Valley of the End."

"Valley of the what?" Jirobo asked he never really was one for history. He was a fighter not a historian and honestly he wasn't from Fire originally so why should he care about the history of others if he didn't care about history in general?

"It's this place where some big battle happened between an Uchiha and one of the Hokages. I forget which one but it's some kind of big deal. There are supposed to be these two large statues placed there."

"What's the fucking point of that?" Tayuya knew the Leaf were strange but putting statues in the middle of nowhere? "Does anyone actually go there or anything? Anything in the area like a small settlement we should worry about."

"No it's just two really big statues that were placed there. Maybe people visit now and then but the area is pretty much uninhabited."

Tayuya said nothing for a bit as she thought about that. "That's crazy. Why go through all the trouble I mean, just how big are the statues anyway?"

"I heard they were as tall as the waterfall in the area," Kidomaru stated actually having heard of this. "But you're right it's kind of a waste to make something like that isn't it?"

"Damn Leaf ninja," Jirobo grunted. "They're all idiots if you ask me, hell they couldn't even protect their own Hokage properly and I bet those guys that failed to protect him weren't even executed. You can be sure that if we messed up that badly we wouldn't live long after it."

Kidomaru laughed in grim humour, "Yeah how is that for job motivation?"

"Anyways," Sakon said getting back to the matter at hand. "We're going this route because it's on the border. We can cross it quickly and easier if we go through there. So let's just try and pick up the pace a bit."

They were going for an hour before they needed to take a break to rest up for the next leg of the trip. They looked at the sun to gauge how much time had passed and mentally calculated how much travel they had roughly taken. It didn't look good, not with how slow things had gotten now. If they didn't need to get Sasuke ready they would have made twice the distance and everyone knew it.

"Damn it's only a matter of time before they catch up," Tayuya angrily said looking to the South knowing they could get overrun within the next hour, two if the Leaf were slow to respond.

"We're going to need someone to slow them down," Sakon stated taking the situation into account. "Jirobo I want you to slow them down."

"Fine with me," the large boy said as he stretch out. "I was getting tired of carrying that thing anyway. So am I to take them down or just delay them?"

"I say take as many as you can down," Kidomaru grinned. "That will slow them down, they wouldn't leave behind their comrades if they were wounded. You know how weak they are in that regard. But if you can take them all down then go for it and catch up."

"Then it's decided then," said Sakon.

"So who carries the damn box?" Kidomaru asked and then looked as everyone was looking at him. "Me and my big mouth, hey how about a game of rock, paper, scissors?"

"Fuck no, you cheat at that all the time," Tayuya said to him. "Now carry that thing already."

As the Sound team split up Jirobo stayed behind and got ready. He wasn't sure what would come their way but if they were following their trail they would come right to this area. He got up in the trees and got ready to deal with whatever the Leaf would send. Even if he died he didn't care, if he failed he was a dead man anyway as failure was not tolerated in the Sound Village. They were a small village so they couldn't afford to lose and neither could he.

He would either complete his mission and survive or die and it was better to die in battle then whatever Orochimaru would do. There were worse fates than death the Sound team that had been used for sacrifices to being back the dead Hokages was proof of that. He grinned as he remembered Kidomaru's words.

"Job motivation indeed."

**Next up Chapter 34: Confrontations**

**Sorry but updates will be slowed as I might be going on a two month course next week so my free time will be very limited for a bit. I'll try and write when I can but don't expect much as I'll be very busy for the next two months.**


	34. Confrontations

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 34: Confrontations**

Temari looked over at Naruto as they made their way through the forest they were currently in. Kiba had a scent and was leading the team as they were pushing themselves to catch up. Naruto had been very silent and she knew why. He was in a personal turmoil about this whole thing, Naruto was an extremely loyal person and he always hoped for the best. It was a trait that you could admire but also was a major weakness at times too. She was worried that he wouldn't fight to his fullest if they had to fight Sasuke. She was worried that Sasuke wouldn't hold back, in fact she had a feeling the boy might not.

She wanted to give him some advice or say something that would make him more at ease but there was nothing she could say. The only thing she could say, she had told him already. She knew exactly what he was going through and she didn't want Naruto to go through what she went through with Kimi. It still stung to think of the other girl, she could still see both her smiling face so full of life and the headless corpse that the girl ended up as.

There were nights she still woke up in a cold sweat from it, the only comfort she found was curling up to Naruto's warm body and letting him take away the pain and sorrow she felt in those moments in the dark. She didn't want to see him in pain, she knew the kind of life he had lived through her brother Gaara's life she knew the kind of pain he kept locked away so others wouldn't see it. If Sasuke ended up dead she knew he would blame himself for this entire thing, even if it wasn't his fault he took it upon himself to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders for some strange reason.

It was one of the things she did like about him.

But deep down, she had a feeling that this would not end well, no matter what happened she knew that this day would change a lot of things. She wasn't sure why she felt it or what would change but she just knew deep down that this day would shape things to come. She looked at her husband and she felt that this would be a day he would remember for the rest of his life as well. Well whatever happened, she would be there for him.

Naruto barely could focus on where he was going, his body moved on its own like he knew exactly what to do while his mind was occupied. He was trying to make sense of the entire thing, he couldn't understand Sasuke. He tried to understand him for years but he never seemed to get anywhere. Sasuke was the first person to look at him and not look through him. Sure it was a look that said 'I'm better than you' but to Naruto he took that as a challenge. He never told anyone this but it was trying to prove himself to Sasuke that made him train so hard.

When no one was there for him he pushed himself because he had a goal to reach. It took years but he felt that he finally reached it and Sasuke saw him as someone that was his equal. Plus there had been fun times with the team when he had actually smiled or seemed like he had a good time even though he wouldn't admit it. Where had that Sasuke gone? He didn't know, but whatever was going on he was going to have some words with Sasuke.

They continued on until Kakashi called for a halt. They all stopped in the branches of the trees as Naruto saw a small clearing. There were four people, one of them a girl with long red hair like in the sketch he had seen in the Hokage's office. They were sitting around a large wooden barrel doing something with it. Naruto looked at Kakashi who seemed to be looking calmly at the place, why wasn't he ordering them to attack, they were right there out in the open they should surprise them while they could.

Kakashi on the other hand could feel that this was all wrong. Years of experience told him to not just jump in. He looked around, he couldn't see much in the way of traps but them sitting there totally exposed was a rookie mistake. And these were supposed to be Orochimaru's personal unit of some kind, he really doubted that this group would make such a mistake. This was obviously a trap of some sort but what kind, well he had a few guesses but nothing he knew for sure.

He cast a look to Anko and as they shared a look he could tell she was thinking the same thing. Maybe he could get Anko to lead a group from behind. The others would wait here while he went down to trip the trap. If anyone would get out of it, it would be him and it wouldn't be the first time. Those two ninja they ran into on the way to Wave was an example. He couldn't remember their names though, something overly grandiose and something they didn't deserve to be called he figured.

He was about to give Anko the plan when an orange blur jumped into the clearing.

"Give back Sasuke you bastards!" Naruto yelled out.

Kakashi blinked for a second before sighing, "I really should have seen that coming," he said to himself. "Alright go after him before something happens."

Naruto landed in the middle of the group fully intent to beat them into submission for some answers. "Alright you jerks where the hell is Sasuke? You better tell me where he is and what you've done or else!" He glared at them but they barely did anything to his appearance. If there was one thing he hated it was being ignored.

The other landed around him all ready to fight as well.

"Naruto," Kakashi sighed to his student keeping an eye on things. "You really need to learn some patience."

"I'll be sure to remind him of that later," Temari said unhappily. It was one of the hardest things she tried to teach Naruto it just seemed like he forgot his self preservation instincts at times like these. Honestly if he kept this up she would have grey hair by the time she was thirty.

They were about to move then the Sound Four suddenly turned to smoke and explosive tags were left. Kakashi yelled out a warning as everyone tried to dodge the explosions. Those weren't the only ones either, as explosive tags were placed in strategic places. The explosions were near deafening and the shockwaves of the explosions could be felt right to their bones but they didn't fall. When there was a break Kakashi noticed that no one had been harmed but also that they were in one spot.

He knew that they had just been manipulated into being in this area and was about to yell out to scatter when another voice was heard.

"Earth style barrier; Earth dome prison," the real member of the Sound Four said as a large rock dome suddenly engulfed them all.

It was pretty dark in the rock dome, which made sense of course but it wasn't very big and with everyone inside there wasn't much room. They could walk around and stuff but the place was totally enclosed.

"What the hell is this?" Naruto asked looking around.

"It's called a trap," Kiba told him.

Naruto glared at him, "I know that much, I meant what kind of jutsu is this?"

"It's not one I recognize," Anko stated looking at Kakashi. For the man that was supposed to have taken in a thousand different jutsu he would have a better idea than most at what this might be. When he just shrugged she slumped a bit, talk about a bit of a letdown.

"Well let's at least try to see what kind of jutsu this is then," Kakashi said starting his hand seals. Suddenly there was a bright light as the sound of many birds chirping was heard as he created his chidori. Kakashi slammed it into the rock wall as everyone watched a large gouge was created. Everyone also watched as the damage slowly started to heal up.

"Well this is a new one for me," Kakashi had never seen this kind of jutsu before. He kind of wished he had his sharingan uncovered it might have been a good one to add to his arsenal for a future date.

Anko looked closely at it running a hand over where the damage had been, "Huh, not even a scratch left. How about we all try different areas?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Couldn't hurt to see if there was a limit to it all."

"I can't use any of my techniques in this place, it would just backfire on all of us," Temari said clearly not happy about it. All her wind jutsus were mid to long range, she didn't have anything that could be used here. Her new personal fans might but there was still the risk of the wind being used in this enclosed space. She would need to mould the air and if the place was air tight, well that ran some risks.

"I think I'm the same," Tenten was just as unhappy about this. She was excited to be on such a mission but she was a range type. Plus all her really majorly powerful weapons needed room to swing and she didn't have it with so many people packed into here.

"I think Akamaru and myself have something that can work, everyone stand back." Kiba asked as everyone did so. Kiba and Akamaru went spinning into the enclosed area as they both smashed the walls all over the place. They left damage all over it but it slowly healed itself again.

Kakashi asked the two Hyuga to see what was going on hoping that the Byakugan what they reported wasn't something Kakashi liked. Apparently the stone dome was covered in chakra and not only was it being directed, it was also attacking them. Kakashi thought he felt a drain, he noticed it as it felt like when he used his Sharingan but slightly different. It was more subtle drain, clearly this jutsu was designed to not only capture but let its prey exert themselves, using up more chakra as they were drained.

He had to admit, this was a good move, but he also knew that every technique had flaws in them.

Naruto was looking around them as something came to his mind, he was being trained to cut rocked with his chakra well would that work on this? Sure it was a lot bigger but Temari was good at it maybe she could try something. "Hey Temari-chan?"

"Yes?"

"How about that wind training exercise can't you do that here?"

Temari thought about it and shook her head, "I'm good at that Naruto but I don't have the chakra to get all of this you'd need a massive amount."

"Well why can't I help you?" Naruto asked her as everyone looked at him. "Remember in the forest when I helped you with your fan?"

Temari's eyes widened as she remembered that, how could she had forgotten that. With her control and his chakra they could do it. All that wind chakra would cut this place to shreds, there was no way this guy would be able to heal from all that extensive damage in time. "It might work." Temari explained what happened with Naruto in their last mission to those that hadn't been there.

"Even if you can't break it all it would weaken it enough for us to smash through," Anko said impressed by this idea. She could see why Kakashi often said that Naruto came up with surprising ideas. "At any rate this guy is delaying us and you can bet the more time we waste here the further the others are getting away I bet."

"So someone will have to stay behind and fight while the others go on." Kakashi surmised what she was getting at.

"Yep," Anko grinned, "Well I might as well do it. I can take him out and catch up the most easily out of everyone here as Kakashi has to lead the team."

Kakashi thought of asking if she was sure but knew that she might take his head off for even insinuating she might not be able to do this. Plus she had a point, besides himself she was the most experienced one here and she had been trained by Orochimaru like the others might have been. He looked to Naruto and Temari and told them to try it.

Naruto given that he would put all his chakra into this placed his hands onto the cold stones Temari came up behind him as she laid her own hands over his. Both closed their eyes as they started with a breathing exercise to help get into sync with the other. They hadn't trained for something like this but if it worked before it might work again. Naruto tried to slowly put his chakra out, it was hard for him to tell as he had so much. He had never had an accurate account of how much chakra he put into techniques at first.

He did his best knowing that the more he put out would be harder on Temari so he just focused on slowly leaking it out. He felt her hands warm as she tried to mould it just right along with him. Temari could start to feel Naruto's chakra, once again it was shocking to feel this much come out of someone. It was like there was a whole lake of chakra behind Naruto. She tried to focus on the chakra, it felt like trying to control a stream of fast moving water. She took a breath to calm herself as she felt her hands on his. She let go of everything else, where they were, the trouble they were in, everything except for this moment. This moment was the only thing that existed as she concentrated and slowly she felt the chakra change.

Jirobo had been pressing against the rock wall since the technique started, he had to do else the entire thing would collapse. He could feel the chakra draining out of the team, it would take some time with them but time was on his side and the longer this took the further the others could get away. He was still surprised the loud blonde one had just jumped right into the ambush. He had set up a few other tricks to get them into it but it turned out he had over planned.

Oh well, good for him at least. He felt them trying to get out but just smirked they had no chance against this technique of his. The only weakness was that he was defenceless in this position but it wasn't like there wasn't anyone else to worry about so he was perfectly safe. Then he felt something else, chakra was being put into the rocks for some reason. Well whatever he would just take that as well and he did start to.

But the power just seemed to slowly increase and tried to encompass the entire dome, he wouldn't allow that and tried to drain more of it. But the more he drained the more that seemed to be show up. He could only absorb so much at any one time and the dome wasn't being damaged yet so he couldn't bleed it off to help fix anything. He felt like he was in a tug of war and was slowly losing.

Then suddenly the chakra changed, it was this unrefined powerhouse and suddenly turned into this sharp feeling like tiny razor blades were pressed up against his palms. And like a sudden hurricane wind it happened, the charka suddenly seemed to attack all over the dome he pulled back his hands in a surprise cry of pain and anger. He looked at his palms to see many small cuts on them.

"What the hell was that!" Jirobo asked himself and realized he needed to get to the rock wall again before they tried to break out. But it was too late for that, as the rock dome was suddenly smashed outward as everyone jumped out of it. Jirobo couldn't believe that they had found a way to get out of his jutsu, how had they done it? What was that chakra he felt when his hands had been cut like that?

"Alright everyone go," Anko said to everyone looking at the large boy in front of her. She grinned at him as she took out a kunai. "I'll deal with the fat boy here you go and catch up."

"Don't try to take too long," Kakashi said but smiled to her. "I know you like to play with your prey but we're on the clock."

Anko sighed in annoyance. "Yeah yeah, just go and I'll catch up as soon as I can." She gave them a shooing motion with her free hand not taking her eyes of the enemy in front of her. Even if the boy was young she wouldn't take him lightly. The others went off leaving the special Jonin alone with the other boy.

Jirobo had considered doing something to slow them down but the woman in front of her seemed to think that she could take him. He didn't know who she was exactly but she carried herself with someone with at least some experience. Plus he couldn't really fend off the entire group for long at the very least he could take care of her and then attack the others from behind. Plus his team would most likely send someone to slow down the Konoha ninja anyway.

"You have some guts taking me on all alone," Jirobo told her.

Anko just shrugged, "I was getting bored and it wouldn't take much for me to deal with a kid like yourself."

Jirobo narrowed his eyes, "I may be younger than you are granny but that doesn't mean I'm soft."

A vein throbbed in Anko's head at what he had called her. Granny? She wasn't even in her mid twenties yet and this little fat prick of a ninja dared to call her 'granny'? Oh she was so going to make this boy pay in blood for that one. She threw her kunai out towards him as she ran forward reaching into her pockets, one of the reasons she loved her coat was that she could put all kinds of fun things in it. There were hidden pockets all over the place, some even sealed up on the inside letting her carry far more items than normally she could.

She knew he would dodge but threw out small orbs at him. He didn't have enough time to dodge as the smoke bombs blew up making large clouds of dark smoke. She jumped high and in a sailing arc over him threw out a large number of shurikens. These she wasn't really aiming for him, just the general area as they had metal wires on them. Holding the wires in her hand she quickly placed the ends in her mouth as she quickly went through the hand seals.

She used the fire dragon technique, a move that was similar to the usual fireball only this traveled along the wires making it looked like a dragon in appearance. As she finished she took a breath moulding the chakra in her lungs, feeling the heat building up as she spit out the fire. The roaring flames came out quickly as they went into the smoke. She dropped the wires as soon as the jutsu was finished, no sense in burning her lips on hot wires as her mouth wouldn't be protected by chakra after the technique was finished.

When the smoke cleared she was a bit surprised to see a large rock formed box.

"Huh, nice block but not exactly good for moving around," Anko said not sure if he could hear in there and not really caring. She pulled out another kunai with one hand and an explosive tag with the other. She wrapped up the tab onto the handle and threw it towards the rock. She brought up the arm of her coat to protect her eyes as the weapon exploded. If he was in there he wouldn't be happy, he might have survived the explosion but the concussive force would play hell on the body. She scanned the large hole but there was nothing inside of it.

There was no way he could have made a substitution in that kind of condition, you needed a clear line of sight mostly for that plus there was no log or anything inside of it. Wait, there was something hidden at the bottom. It was slightly covered by destroyed rocks but as got closer she saw a large hole in the ground, one she hadn't made. Her eyes widened as she then tried to quickly get away, knowing what he had done but it was too late.

Jirobo burst out of the ground behind her as his large arms wrapped around her chest. Her arms were pinned to her sides as the boy started to try and crush her with his massive arms. She had to admit he was strong for his age.

"For an old hag like yourself that wasn't too bad of a combo," Jirobo said to her as he tried to crush her body. "Too bad for you I'm smarter than that."

"Tch, you think you won simply because of this? Don't make me laugh fat boy," Anko told him trying to see what she could do.

"Well then let me show you something else then," Jirobo wanted to punish this woman and he was going to break her in half to do it. He called on the powers of the curse seal as the power started to flow through him as the black markings started to show up over his body.

Anko looked at the arms as she saw the markings she winced for a bit as a pain hit her neck. Her own seal was acting up in response to this but thankfully Kakashi's new seal over it was working. When she fought her old teacher she hadn't been able to move now it was more like a pin in her neck. She could deal with that.

"This is the power of Orochimaru and the Sound!" Jirobo stated as with the new power he started to crush the woman.

Anko gritted her teeth as she tried to keep her breath, she couldn't cry out as the boy was squeezing her like an anaconda now. If she cried out there was no way she would be able to get that air back. She felt the pressure increase as the pain started to increase. She felt him flex his arms tightly and she couldn't help but grunt in pain. Her arms were digging into her sides now and she felt like a tube of toothpaste at the moment. Suddenly one of her ribs make a cracking sounds as she bit her lip from crying out in pain.

That one was broken she was sure of it, another bad sound as another rib was fractured or broken. She had to do something quickly. She would die from suffocating or he would break her rib cage leaving her to a slow death from internal injuries or incapacitated to finish her off. She looked at her right wrist and put all her concentration into the seal under it. This wasn't a weapons seal but a summoning seal.

This seal would allow her to summon a certain type of snake without blood, but it wasn't one of her lethal snakes but he should be good enough. She concentrated pouring her chakra into it and felt the summon animal arrive.

Jirobo didn't know what happened until he felt the sharp stings hit his arm. He grunted as he felt something touching his arm. He shifted her a bit to get a look and imagine his surprise when he saw a snake biting into his arm. He released the woman immediately as he pulled back and tried to grab the snake. It let itself go as it fell to the ground, he started at the animal as it stared at him. The snake flicked its tongue at him before vanishing into a puff of smoke.

At first he thought it had been some kind of tamed snake but that had been a summoned snake, that didn't make any sense to him, the only one with a contract with the snakes should have been his master. That couldn't have been the part of the same animal summons, could it? He glared at the woman who was now getting up, although she was using an arm to hold onto her injured rib area.

"Who the hell are you? How did you summon one of the snakes?" He demanded.

Anko grinned at him, "You really don't know? Well then let me educate you, I am Anko Mitarashi, special Jonin of the Hidden Leaf and the first student of Orochimaru." She pulled down her collar to show him the curse mark with Kakashi's seal around it. "Take a good look, see anything familiar?"

Jirobo couldn't believe this he hadn't known that their master had a pupil at some stage. Of course he and the others knew he had been with the Leaf village originally, but they had never dared ask about his past there. So how could they have known he had had a student let alone one that had a curse seal marking. But there was something odd about this, the women had something around the seal, was it some kind of counter seal?

If so then he had nothing to worry about now, he relaxed a bit. If she had a full seal she might have been able to use it, if she had been able to go to the second stage then he really would have been worried but this woman seemed to try and get rid of the power. Foolish of her he thought, and it would cost her.

"If you could use that seal then I would be in trouble but apparently you actually don't want to use it." Jirobo sneered at her.

"I have my own reasons," Anko stated as she didn't want to get into that. She didn't use the seal because she didn't want to use it because it was something that Orochimaru had done to her. She didn't know what it was for but looking at the Sound ninja in front of her she now had a good idea. She had never once tried to explore its abilities, mainly because of the pain it caused but she could just never bring herself to do it. She felt tainted with the mark on her and looking at the ninja in front of her just confirmed her reasons to not ever using it.

This was something that looked and felt totally unnatural. "Anyways I'm not one for long talks with my enemies since this fight is nearly over anyway, you should be feeling it pretty soon."

"Feeling it? Feeling what exactly..." Jirobo swayed a bit as he felt his vision swim slightly. He looked at the wound of his arm and understood.

"That little guy wasn't a lethal snake mind you," Anko told him. "This little one I call up in case I need a person alive. His toxin is special it attacks the nerves and motor functions. Soon you won't be able to move at all."

Jirobo cursed under his breath, this woman was more than she appeared and he had let himself get too confident. He would have to end this as fast as he could and that meant using his full power. With that decision he called on his seal to release his full power. He felt the power flowing into his body it was like his blood was on fire when he used this power. But it was oh so lovely as well, intoxicating at the same time as his body was force through the changes.

Soon his body went through another change, his skin slowly started to turn darker with several large warts on the forehead and shoulders, his hair grew out into a long mane as his eyes took on a black and gold look to them.

Anko stood there in shock at this she never knew the seal was able to do something like this._ 'Damn it now he's most likely even more dangerous just great. What the hell is that snake bastard doing these days, I really hope mine never does that. That's just what I need, to turn into some kind of freaky looking monster.'_

'_Damn my ribs hurt like hell too, looks like I won't be able to catch up with Kakashi just yet. I just know I'll hear about me being injured by some fat kid later on from him.'_ She mentally scowled at that.

Jirobo charged at her with speed that surpassed what he had before, she threw herself to the side hoping to dodge it. His fist hit her shoulder and sent her flying, she hit the ground and her body skipped several times before a tree stopped her. She cried out in pain as she felt that her arm had been dislocated from that shot. His strength was something she had never faced before, he might not be on Tsunade's level but he was getting damn close.

She forced herself to get up, letting him get close was way out of the question and with her arm like this she couldn't use hand seals. She would have to wait him out and hope that this form wouldn't nullify the toxin in his body. She got up on her legs, even if they were a little shaky but she willed her body to move. She jumped out of the way as the large boy slammed a fist into the tree where she had been against. The tree snapped in half from his punch.

She reached into her pockets and decided to play a bit dirty now. She threw two more small smoke bombs which he just charged through them. The Sound ninja looked around to see her in a tree branch now.

"You think that will save you? If you do then you really are an idiot," He went through several hand seals as large rocks erupted out of the earth around Anko's area. Some of them were taller than trees as some smashed through the forest floor. Anko had to jump to avoid the same fate as her branch as it was shattered. If one of those had hit her legs she wouldn't be walking.

She threw one of the other small smoke bombs again and Jirobo was getting very fed up with this. He could feel his body slowing down and he was feeling tired despite using the second stage. He would just charge through the smoke not letting it to slow him down anymore. He rushed through the smoke and this time he would finish her off. But as soon as he hit the smoke cloud he screamed in pain as his hands went to his eyes, not only that he felt like sandpaper was being rubbed over his skin.

"That wasn't a smoke bomb exactly," Anko said smirking as she sat on another branch. "That also held a bunch of crushed glass."

"You bitch!" Jirobo roared as his eyes hurt like hell. It was like someone was sticking thousands of needles into his eyes he was blinded now and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Been called worse," Anko muttered to herself as he got her weapons ready. She watched at the boy flail allow blindly. She got several kunai with the highest explosive tags that she had on her put onto the handles. She took careful aim as she threw them around the Sound ninja, they soon exploded making a large explosion. Anko was blinded by it and for a moment she thought that she might have went a little overboard with how much explosive power she had used.

She landed on the ground as the dust started to settle, she was amazed that the ninja's body was intact. Although he was laying on the ground not moving and slowly his body started to turn back to normal. Even if the slight damage on his body told her that he suffered damage on the outside, the force of that explosion would have messed up his internal organs. Taking a good look showed her that he wasn't breathing.

"I hate it when it's kids," She commented to herself as she went to the nearest tree. She gritted her teeth knowing that she shouldn't do what she was going to do but she needed to fix her shoulder. She slammed her shoulder into the tree popping her shoulder back in. She cried out in pain as she slumped against the tree.

"Damn...I think I should train more if he's making brats like that in Sound." Anko sighed as she took a moment to rest before she forced herself up to follow the others.

**Next up Chapter 35: The Web**


	35. The Web

**AN: Well my course is over and it's back to normal for me which means hopefully updates will be faster now.**

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 35: The Web**

Kakashi led the others on as they left Anko behind, although he knew she was fully capable ninja and he respected her and her skills. It didn't sit well with him leaving someone behind. Images of what happened with Rin all those years ago. He tried to leave her behind and Obito had to make him see what was really important. That mission hadn't ended well, yes he had gotten Rin out but Obito paid with his life. It was something that still haunted him to this day and to hid dying breath most likely as the eye in his head was an ever constant reminder of that day.

Now leaving her behind felt like that day all over again for him. This was why he preferred to work alone when he was in ANBU, it make him worry less about those under his care. At any rate his worry for her was something he had to push back into his mind, he had to focus on the mission and only the mission.

He caught something in his vision as he jumped and held up a fist. The others stopped as he bent down slightly.

"What is it?" Temari asked him.

"There seems to be some kind of wire on the ground." Kakashi could just barely see it. Whatever it was it was unlike anything he had seen. It was so fine that only the light reflecting off it gave him his only warning. He was thankful that his original eye was really good, sure it was no Sharingan, but he could see better than most with it. He looked again and noticed another wire next to it, he had to admit, a double tripwire trap was a neat trick. You think you missed it by bypassing the first one and then have a second even thinner one, after it.

He remembered someone that once would make a hidden trap and then place an even harder one to see right after it while on a mission years ago.

"Alright everyone, follow me," Kakashi said to them all. "Step where I step and not anywhere else. We have tripwires and I don't know it they are linked to traps or a warning system. It might be to slow us down but we have to be careful."

The team cautiously but quickly made their way forward, Kakashi took great pains to avoid the wires when he saw them. They were on the grounds, between trees and even in the branches. He was amazed at how many there were, either there were more opposition then he thought or this might have been set up in advance. Either one didn't sit well with him, more enemies would complicate things and many traps set up in advanced while they had waited for Sasuke, would mean they had time to set up any kind of trap.

As they moved on they eventually came to a small clearing, Kakashi looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So they moved forward, it was only when he heard the rustle of the leaves that he shouted for everyone to take cover. They all managed to dodge a literal hail of kunai from the trees. There had to be a lot of people hidden there to throw that many but he couldn't see any of them. More and more of the deadly little knifes rained down on them.

"Where the hell are they coming from?" Kiba shouted out trying to get to the trees for cover. But every time he did more would come at him blocking his way.

Neji and Hinata were busy dodging and trying to scan but so far they couldn't see anything just yet.

"Damn it, come out here and fight!" Naruto shouted out to whoever was doing this. They didn't have the time to play around like this. The more they stayed here the longer Sasuke was getting away.

"Up there!" Neji yelled out as a Sound ninja with four limbs came down from the branches.

"I got him!" Kiba yelled out jumping at the boy.

Kidomaru smirked as the boy and his dog were falling into his trap. He opened his mouth as a large amount of webbing came out and suddenly a giant web came flying at Kiba. Kiba had no way to dodge as he and Akamaru were engulfed by it. The webbing attached him to a tree and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't break the webbing.

Hinata ran to him but when she stepped on a prepared web wire it released a web trap this time around. Kidomaru was webbing everyone up as quickly as he could. Although he was outnumbered it was something he was used to. Plus it wasn't like they could escape his webbing, they would soon learn why when they tried.

"Wind blade!" Temari yelled out as she swept her fan at the enemy.

Kidomaru barely managed to dodge the attack, he hadn't counted on a wind user. The webbing was a mixture of chakra and that's what made it so strong. But a precise attack like that might be able to cut it. He would have to deal with her first.

"You're going to need to level up a lot more than that to beat me," he told the wind Kunoichi disappearing back into the trees.

"Damn it where did he go?" Naruto asked looking around.

Kakashi looked to Tenten, "Cut the others free while we have a break."

Tenten nodded as she jumped to Hinata who was closest. She pulled out a kunai but when she tried to cut the webbing it wouldn't go through the material. She didn't understand, it shouldn't be that strong so she tried another on. When that didn't work she pulled out a short sword she had sealed in a scroll, it was one of her sharpest of swords but even that didn't work.

"I can't cut through it!" Tenten yelled to the Jonin leader, "Whatever this crap is, it's resistant to being cut."

"Don't let him catch you in that," Kakashi warned as the sound ninja kept throwing webs at everyone. Kakashi was trying to come up with a plan for attack, the boy was a distance fighter but if you got up close that webbing would be a major problem. "Temari try to get rid of the branches I want him on the ground."

Kakashi figured it would limit the boy's mobility if he was stuck on the ground and couldn't hide in the branches.

Kidomaru heard this and saw the blond pulling back her large fan again, he wouldn't let her get another shot off again. He quickly spat out webbing from his mouth and formed it into a special arrow of his. He pulled out a bow as he quickly ran behind the trunk of the tree as Temari's wind attack blasted through the area. Branches were blown away as a large chunk of the forest top was blown away. Temari pulled back for another when Kidomaru used this moment to fire the web arrow.

It sailed through the air and as it was around to hit her, it expanded into a web ensnaring her into the ground.

"Temari-chan!" Naruto yelled out running to her.

"Watch out, don't touch the web," Temari warned him as he stopped short of touching it. He wanted to cut it but from what Tenten said he might not be able to. He hated feeling like there was nothing to do, in fact he refused that there was nothing to be done. There had to be a way of cutting it, he just had to figure it out.

He heard a yell and turned to see that Tenten had been caught now. Naruto thought about using wind chakra to cut through it like the stones. It might work but he had never really used it in a combat condition without Temari's help. Maybe he could hold her hand and use the other to cut through it? It was worth a try at least. He was about to tell her his plan when suddenly he felt something snag the back of his jacket.

He was quickly pulled off his feet as he a web came out of nowhere and he was now stuck in midair in the center of a web attached to several trees.

Kakashi was the last one left and he didn't like this, the boy's webbing made him a major problem. Even if he defeated the boy he had no idea how to free the rest of his team and for all he knew they could be stuck there for hours, hours they didn't have.

"Damn you're a slippery one," Kidomaru stated after another frustrating failure at catching Kakashi. He was also keeping his distance from the man, he knew the reputation from Kakashi and getting in close would not end well for the Sound Ninja.

He pulled out a bow as he formed an arrow from the webbing he created from his mouth. "Dodge this then."

The arrow flew and Kakashi thankfully had pulled up his headband, with his sharingan eye he was able to dodge the arrow. It glanced off the shoulder part of his vest cutting it up slightly. The boy's accuracy was amazing for a boy his age, in fact he would say that his accuracy rivalled that of Tenten on the team. The boy he noticed fire more shots but they all missed, but only just. Kakashi was being kept at a distance and from starting any counter jutsu.

Kakashi also knew that he couldn't use his eye for too long, it was the double edge he always had to deal with when using it. He could never afford to drag out fights and this boy was trying to drag things out.

Kidomaru was getting a little bored with this cat and mouse game with Kakashi. So he decided to play another game. He pulled back a new arrow as he aimed it at all those he had captured. " I wonder, are you fast enough to take an arrow for one of your team? Or will you simply just let me shoot them? Now who shall I go for first?

"When I get out of here I'm going to kick your ass!" Naruto shouted out as he struggled in his own web.

"I think the loud mouth will be first," Kidomaru stated pointing the weapon at Naruto. Kakashi saw this and cursed as he was on the other side of the opening of the forest. If he ran as fast as he could he might not make it in time to do anything and even then, he didn't know what he could do. Maybe deflect the arrow's path, that might work so he ran as fast as he could holding out a kunai.

Naruto looked up as the arrow was pointed at him, Temari felt like an icy fist just grabbed her heart. She didn't think that Kakashi was going to make it in time. She could take it if it was her that was going to be shot but she didn't want to see this, she couldn't see this or let it happen. She could only watch in horror as the arrow sailed away, everything moved in slow motion as she yelled out.

It was just when it was about to hit Naruto when a figure came out of nowhere to knock the arrow away with his own fist. Neji stood there over Naruto his bloodline activated as he looked defiant at Kidomaru's surprised look.

"Hinata, use the gentle fist to cut the webbing. I'll take this one on," Neji told his cousin.

**-Konoha-**

In the Hokage's office, Sakura was making herself as useful as she could. She honestly didn't know what else to do. She was worried about her team, for various reasons. Worried that everyone might end up getting hurt or worse, worried for Sasuke and what he was doing. She honestly didn't understand why he was doing this. He was betraying the entire village to go off with the man that had attacked them in the Forest of Death, had nearly killed them, attacked the village and killed the Third Hokage.

It didn't make any sense, or did it? All this time she had tried to get closer to the boy, to understand him more but he always shut himself away. What did she know about him other than the public history? She had seen a few moments of kindness in him, a few times he opened up but that had been before the curse mark changed things. He became darker and seemed to slip further and further away. She sighed to herself as she thought about this. Maybe she hadn't known him all that well if he was willingly going to leave for Orochimaru.

She felt a sting where that girl had hit her earlier that was another thing as well. He had chosen that girl to be with, that is, if she told the truth about what she did with Sasuke. The fact that Sasuke didn't even react to her claim didn't sit well with Sakura.

"Sakura," Tsunade's voice called out.

"Coming," Sakura gathered up the few scrolls she had been sent to get across the room and gave them to the Fifth.

Tsunade took the files as she looked them over before speaking. "Don't worry they'll be fine."

Sakura looked up in surprise as Tsunade looked up slightly herself with a grin on her face. "It's written all over your face, you always wear your emotions in plain sight. Peace of advice, don't go into poker."

Sakura felt a little of the weight on her shoulders ease from the Hokage's slight humour.

"I worry as well you know," Tsunade eased back in her chair as she placed the papers down. "You can't stop what is to come, you have to learn how to take what comes at you in life." She looked up at her office. "I wish I could say I did just that but that would make a liar out of me."

"Tsunade-sama..." Sakura had never seen the Hokage looking like this. Although Tsunade looked young, Sakura felt like the image of the woman in front of her had just aged and yet she still looked like normal. The woman seemed to be remembering something that weighted so much it nearly crushed her for a moment.

"I lost my little brother and I nearly lost myself, when Dan died...I did. I ran from my pain and I just couldn't face the world anymore." Tsunade then smiled, "Amazing how some loud mouthed little brat of a genin could get me to face it all and to have the strength to fight again."

Sakura smiled herself, "Naruto is...unique."

That made Tsunade laugh, "That's putting it gently. But that's why I believe in them and so should you. He had a way of beating the odds."

Before they could say more there was a knock on the door. Tsunade told them to enter as a chunin entered the room. "Tsunade-sama, Shizune's medical team just left to help the retrieval team as support."

Tsunade nodded, "Good you can leave now." Tsunade sighed when the chunin left. It was good that Shizune got her medical team set up so quickly. Now she just hoped that her apprentice could get there in time if Kakashi's team needed any medical help. It was too bad that they couldn't organize it sooner but time wasn't on their side, it still wasn't. She hated waiting, she was not a patient person and it got on her nerves waiting around.

She stood up suddenly, if she was stuck waiting around she would at least get something productive done. "Come with me Sakura."

"Where are we going?" the young girl asked.

"Training," Tsunade said simply. "We might as well get in some training while we wait." She saw the girl's nervous look. "Don't worry it's not physical training today, that will be tomorrow, today is basic medical knowledge."

**-Retrieval Team-**

Hinata was finishing cutting through the webbing of the last member of the team as Neji was facing the sound ninja. She wished she had thought of it, to use the gentle fist to cut the webbing. Using her eyes she could see the chakra inside of the webbing, and her clan's style of combat would be the perfect counter for this. Her hands in the shape of a knife cut through the webbing as the chakra in her hand was formed to cut through the chakra in the webbing, it cut through it effortlessly.

"Thanks," Kiba told her with a small smile as he got up.

Hinata nodded her head as they went to the others.

Kakashi had time to think but only for a moment, they could all rush this ninja but he was a slippery one. Plus he was using delaying tactics as well, something they couldn't afford to do at all. Which meant they would have to split up again, he knew that Anko would be coming so if the team could hold out until she got here then it wouldn't be so bad. The webbing was another issue, only the Hyuga could cut it which meant only Hinata or Neji would have to be behind and he might need one of them for later. Given the experience of this ninja it would have to be Neji. Hinata was at the moment no match for him and he needed to ensure whoever was left behind had the odds to survive.

"Neji, I want you to deal with him while we go on." Kakashi told him.

"What? We can kick his ass Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said to the jonin leader.

"He's right Naruto," Temari told him. "This guy is just trying to delay us and he'll just keep webbing members up making Hinata and Neji take time out to free them and then we have to dodge." It was all a cat and mouse game and she knew it. She could use her fan to blast the area but using such high level moves to many times would leave her drained and they still had who knew how many more ahead of them. Plus there was no telling what other surprises he had.

"I'll stay with him," Tenten said to everyone surprise. "Neji is a short range fighter and I can attack at long range. Plus we've trained together enough to work well as a team."

Kakashi nodded his head it made sense and they were Gai's students, knowing the kind of training he put himself through and Lee, there was no telling what those two had been through. He would have liked to leave Temari as well but he might need her for later. He had a feeling that they would only get to the stronger opponents as they moved on and she would be needed.

"Alright you two say and fight him, help should be coming and catch up when you can," Kakashi told them. "Everyone, move out." He ordered as they made a break for it.

Kidomaru saw this from his hiding spot as he pulled an arrow back in his bow, he didn't like the fact they were splitting up but he could at least try to take one of the out. He aimed for the blonde girl with the fan, she might be trouble later on. He let the arrow go but he hadn't counted on one thing, that was Tenten's deadly accuracy with Neji's warning.

Neji saw the arrow and quickly told Tenten, in under a second the weapons expert's eyes were already tracking the arrow. She didn't need any longer, her hand threw out a kunai naturally in almost a blur as the small weapon sailed through the air. Kidomaru smirked, no one was that good, sure he was that accurate but no one else matched him. To his surprise the kunai not only hit the arrow but knocked it slightly off course. The Arrow just went over Temari's head who looked back in shock as she felt something brush against her hair.

"You owe me one," Tenten shouted to the former Sand ninja. It felt kind of good to get one up on her, sure she had forgiven the girl for her lose in the chunin exams but still. There was some perverse sense of pleasure in Tenten that Temari owed now. Tenten looked to the trees as it was just her and Neji now. "Well here we are."

Neji nodded, "I'll point him out."

"And I take him out," Tenten smirked. "I have just the thing I've been saving." She pulled out a scroll as Neji knew it was one of her many weapon scrolls she kept on her person. She unsealed her choice of weapons and he was surprised to see a bow with a quiver of arrows.

"I didn't know you had those," Neji said to her surprised as he scanned the area.

"There's a lot you don't know," she smirked arming herself. "I got this after the exams, I figured I needed to round out my weapons more and got a bunch of special arrows as well."

Neji lifted a single eyebrow at the word 'special', knowing her it might be something very nasty for the enemy.

Kidomaru had to admit, he was impressed with the girl. No one had done something like that to him, ever. To do that to one of his arrows, he was intrigued but his girl, the boy less so, but she was obviously at a good level. This game might have just increased in difficulty for him.

"Four O'clock, sixty-three degrees up!" Neji said. Tenten didn't miss a beat as she took aim and fired.

Kidomaru saw the arrow coming he moved as fast as he could, he felt the arrow grave his cheek and swore. That was way too close, it had nearly been game over for him right there. Against Neji would give out his location and Tenten would fire her own arrow. Kidomaru figured it was time to change the game up a little. He called up some chakra for his summoning creature, he had sighed with the spiders of course and a large spider creature was called. The spider was huge, easy it's body was seven feet long and that didn't even count the legs as it took a spot in the branches.

"I don't like the looks of this," Tenten said looking up at the huge animal with disgust. "I really hate spiders."

Suddenly the spider spawned a literal army of smaller ones, each one carrying a web line on itself as they descended on mass towards them.

"Oh crap," Tenten muttered as she pulled her scroll again. This time she unsealed a large number of shurikens. She easily held the deadly little things between all her fingers as she quickly tried to judge the right angle for attack. Neji was ready as well although he would have to wait for them to get closer.

Tenten threw her weapons each one hitting a spider dead center, she cleared a safe area for herself knowing that Neji would be able to handle himself and she didn't want to get in his way. She saw his arms moving with blinding speed attacking all the little things that came too close to his area of attack.

"That was a good opening move," Kidomaru said as he slowly lowered himself. "But how long can you keep this up? I doubt she has a limitless supply of weapons and sooner or later you'll both start to miss."

Tenten and Neji knew that, they looked at each other as they silently needed a plan. Tenten's eyes went quickly to the large spider as she nodded at him. He looked at Kidomaru and he too nodded. They had perfect teamwork as they had trained with each other for nearly two years now. Tenten took out a special kunai with a paper bomb wrapped around it. Neji noticed the different color on it and got ready. Tenten threw the kunai straight up and closed her eyes, as did Neji. It was a risk but one they needed.

The bomb exploded in a bright light as the paper flash bomb went off. Kidomaru hadn't known what the girl was doing and now he was blinded. Tenten jumped onto a tree as she quickly unsealed a large battle axe. It would slow her down but she needed the extra weight. When she reached the highest point she jumped off and in a back flip was now landing on top of the spider. The blinded creature heard the girl but didn't know the danger until it was too late. Tenten's axe smashed into its head, it gave a gurgled sound as it fell from the trees, it landed with a large crash into the floor below blood seeping form the mortal wound.

Neji rushed at Kidomaru and managed to hit him with several dozen good hits from his gentle fist. Kidmaru cried out as he landed on the ground. Neji stood in front of the boy as Tenten landed beside him.

"Nice one," Tenten smiled.

Neji however was still tense, something was wrong as Kidomaru started to get up. It wasn't possible, he had made sure those were mortal hits. Then he noticed something odd, the places he had hit looked strangely orange. It reminded him of Lee's fight with Gaara, how the boy had an outer shell that protected him. _'Damn, can it be that he has something similar?'_

"That was a good one," Kidomaru stated getting up. "It's a good thing that the webbing I use I can make from any liquid in my body. My spit is just one way, I can sweat it out of my pores as well." To show this was true the damaged pieces fall off his body as a new substance seemed to grow over it and then when it settled looked just like his real skin.

"Just like Gaara," Neji confirmed. Tenten heard this and knew this wouldn't be an easy fight now.

Kidomaru once again took to trees as he decided to keep his distance. The battle continued on like this, Kidomaru would keep his distance trying to get through their defences and they would counter attack. Tenten would sometimes try to put a paper bomb onto her arrow and one of the explosions nearly did get Kidomaru. He knew that his armour might protect him physically, but the shockwave of an explosion was something else as that could cause internal damage.

But as the battle went on, both Tenten and Neji wouldn't be able to keep up with all the weapons that kept coming at them. Cuts would start to form, at one point a kunai hit Tenten in her shin. This caused a lot of pain as she couldn't move as much. Neji had to jump to her aid when the next bombardment of weapons came. Tenten got hit in the shoulder but Neji had taken three kunai himself.

Both were wounded and bleeding but neither one was backing down.

It was starting to drag out for too long for Kidomaru. He knew that he couldn't afford too waste much time with these two. He needed to get back before more of Konoha's forces could be gathered up. It was time to finally end this and drew on the power of the curse mark, the black markings grew over his body but he didn't stop there. He wanted to crush them utterly, he wanted a complete victory as he put himself through the next stage. His skin changed color as he started to take on a more demonic appearance and a third eye grew in the middle of his forehead.

This new eye allowed him to increase his accuracy and now he would see just how good these two were.

Neji caught this new arrow weapon and was only just able to dodge it as it cut along his arm. He hissed out as a large gash was formed.

"Neji, are you okay?" Tenten asked seeing the weapon and now his arm covering itself in blood.

"I'm fine," He told her. Although he could still use the arm that had been a surprise to him, he wouldn't be caught off guard like that again.

Kidomaru cursed, he really didn't like how that boy could see all his attacks coming. The girl on the other hand, she couldn't. A grin slowly spread across his face as he took aim. She was now too far for the boy to stop the arrow and she was slowed down with that leg wound. She couldn't be fast enough to dodge or get out of way.

Tenten saw the arrow coming at her and with only one arrow left herself. She knew that she only had one chance. Her body was already injured so it was slower now but she forced herself to move as fast as she could. She took aim and fired her last arrow, it grazed along its edge nodding its course but not far enough. She cried out feeling the arrow pierce her lower torso, she felt it go through her body and into the tree she was leading against.

"No!" Neji saw Tenten impaled onto the tree but he couldn't move to her, he saw the kunai coming at him again now. He wanted to make sure she was okay but that arrow had looked like it had been a lethal blow. A moments distraction led to more cuts onto his body, he felt the blade slice into his flesh and two more sink into him. When there was a break he stood there on unsteady feet, his body was heavily wounded he knew he was losing too much blood. His head was getting light headed, a bad sign that his blood pressure was dropping. He didn't want to think of the internal damage.

Kidomaru slowly lowered himself a few feet from Neji hanging upside down. "You're on deaths door now, you're little friend is a goner and you'll be joining her soon enough. Oh well I'll have to admit you two were a nice little game for me. But you can't pierce my form with her weapons and I'm not getting close enough for you to use those hand against me."

"Not that you could do much anyway, you can barely stand now, you shouldn't have taken those hits for her."

"I would do so again no matter what," Neji told him as he slowly turned to face him. "She's my teammate and I would never abandon my allies. Besides there is still one way to beat you."

"Oh?" Kidomaru smirked hanging a few feet in the air. He figured he was safe at this distance, there was no way Neji could jump this high up at him. "I'm interesting in hearing that."

"You said it yourself, your own arrows are made of the same material as that armour you use on your skin," Neji smirked.

Kidomaru looked confused at him when he heard the sound of an arrow, he was about to move when suddenly he felt something slam into the back of his head. He was confused what happened at first and why he couldn't see out of his third eye anymore. He felt this intense pain then his vision blurred, the last thing he saw was the ground coming up to him before everything went dark.

Neji looked at the monstrous form of their enemy with one of his own arrows sticking out of the third eye. The boy's body slowly started to revert to his more human appearance looking out at the world with dead eyes. Neji looked up to see Tenten sitting down holding the bleeding wound from where she had pulled the arrow out from. Neji slowly made his way to her as he nearly collapsed next to her.

"Are you okay?" He said in a soft voice he was tired and hurting all over.

Tenten winced as she tried to put pressure on the wound. "Been better, knew I couldn't dodge…had to make it hit somewhere not vital…although…I think it hit a kidney, not sure." Tenten was starting to look slightly pale to Neji.

"Hold on," He said trying to get comfortable next to her that was hard when he had a few kunai in his back so he was on his side next to her. He held his own hand to her wound trying to stop as much bleeding as he could.

"I feel so tired…" Tenten whispered.

"Same…but we can't sleep, you know that," Neji said to her as she pressed her body against his.

Tenten knew their chances of survival were pretty low with their wounds but she was a ninja she knew the risks. Although knowing that this could be the end, she felt scared. She had so much she wanted to do in life, there was so much she hadn't done yet either. Feeling Neji pressed against her felt nice, at least she wasn't alone, that was worse way to go she felt, alone.

"Don't leave me," She muttered out loud her thoughts.

Neji wasn't sure what she meant, it wasn't like he was going anywhere. "I'll never leave."

She smiled a bit as he eyes closed, "good…I'm glad it's you…"

Neji had no idea what she meant before he felt his tired body give out. He slipped into darkness but he was left with one strange thought. You would think that his last thoughts would be of the others, their mission or his family. But strangely his last thoughts were, _'I'm glad it's you too'_, before everything went black.

They lay there for who knew how long and they weren't aware of a shadow of a person that suddenly loomed over their forms.

**Next up chapter 36: Against Time**


	36. Against Time

**Political Alliance**

**Chapter 36: Against Time**

A figure ran by himself as he had been running for nearly a day now only taking quick rests when he needed them. He was needed to reinforce the Sound Four in their mission to bring back Sasuke Uchiha. He had been running ever since he woke up and was given the mission, with rest stops only when he needed it. He was in a hurry because his old team would need him and also because his own time was running down. He knew that the odds of him getting back alive were pretty low, but he was prepared for that.

He thought back to that day when he had woken up.

_- Flashback-_

He was in a void feeling like he was floating between life and death, time had no meaning for him anymore, he could have been here an hour or a year, he didn't know. There was nothing, no sensation, no sound, no anything. He couldn't feel his body and his mind was foggy, most likely from the drugs. It was like being in a half-sleep state but deeper. He couldn't even remember why he was here or what he was waiting for, he only knew that he waited for something.

Then something changed the world suddenly started to feel heavy and confining. Sounds started to appear. Strange beeping, wheezing sounds and other electronic devices could be heard. The place smelled odd as well, like the place was kept sterile.

"...ear me..."

'Who was that? I...can't make it out...'

"I sa...an...ou hear me?"

'I can hear something, wait it's becoming clearer.'

"It's time to get up Kimimaro."

Again the voice and a name, his name it was coming back to him now. He was laying down, there were tubes and other things connected to his body keeping him alive. Now he remembered, he was Kimimaro of the Sound Five. That is until he got sick, his own bloodline killing him by inches. He had been put into medical stasis to prolong his life only to be revived for one last time.

"What...is my mission?" His voice was dry and raw from not having to talk for who knew how long.

Kabuto smirked looking down at the young man, "Lord Orochimaru needs you for a personal mission, he needs you to help your old team in getting someone very special."

Kimimaro listened to what he was to do, he knew that this would be his last mission but it was for Orochimaru. He would give anything for that man, including his life. He would have offered up his body to host his lord's essence if only he wasn't dying. But he would do this because it was his master's wish and he would die happy knowing he had served him one last time.

**-Present-**

Not far away from Kimimaro the rest of the Sound Four were trying to hurry. They had already left two members behind but so far they hadn't seen them catch up. Tayuya was a bit worried about this, they were the elite members of Orochimaru's personal guards, they should be strong enough to deal with anything the Leaf could throw at them, at least most of what the Leaf could send after them she figured.

Currently she was the one carrying the box containing Sasuke, she wasn't sure how much longer it might take for him to be ready, it varied from person to person but if she took the average time he might be ready soon.

"Where the fuck are those two?" She yelled out to Sakon who was in the lead.

"Maybe they're taking their time or maybe the Leaf sent more than we thought they might have." Sakon theorized. Although he didn't like this as well, those two should have been able to catch up to them by now. This didn't sit well with him but they needed to get Sasuke to Orochimaru, they couldn't afford failure here.

"Tayuya," He said getting her attention. "I want you to go on ahead, go as fast as you can don't wait up. I'll stay behind and wait and see if they show up. If the Leaf are coming I'll slow them down but no matter what, keep going."

"Fuck," She muttered not liking any of this but she pushed on ahead leaving him behind. She pushed herself to the limit trying to get as much distance as she could.

Sakon decided to wait, if his teammates came then he could scold them for being so slow but if it wasn't them, then he had a job ahead. Thankfully he wasn't alone in this and they were about to get a unique surprise soon.

**-Recover Team-**

The team was now down to Kakashi, Naruto, Temari, Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata. Kiba and Akamaru were in the lead with Hinata next to him as they continued to track their enemies. Kiba said that the number of scents had dropped to three. This was good news for Kakashi, they still had more numbers on their side now but that could change if more Sound were on the way. They needed to cut off this group before that happened. Then they could go back and hopefully regroup with the others they had to leave behind.

But they were close now if they could end this quickly then they could get back fast.

Hinata still scanned the area ahead of them so far she hadn't seen anything, but then her eyes weren't as good as Neji. She was worried about him too as her mind kept going back to her older cousin and hoped he was okay. After the chunin exams her relationship with him had greatly improved and she didn't want to lose him after repairing the family rift between him and the main house. Even her father was teaching Neji, something that was nearly unheard of in the Hyuga clan. She knew that Neji would be a great member of the clan one day. Still she had her own self doubts but she didn't want to be a burden and tried to improve herself.

Suddenly something caught her eye, she had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she had nearly missed it. On the tree ahead of them was an explosive tag, it was too close as well. They were in mid jump with no way of avoiding it. A shout of warning wouldn't work, she had to do something or else Kiba and Akamaru would get caught in the blast. They didn't see it and as the world seemed to slow she knew what she had to do.

She yelled out, not sure what she had yelled out only that she did. She then shoved Kiba as hard as she could. His momentum still carried him forward but now he was going in a different direction. Akamaru had been to his other side so he slammed into the dog. Hinata was grateful for that but knew now she was in trouble. As soon as she touched down she tried to kick off in another direction as quickly as she could.

The explosion went off as she had just finished kicking off as it sent her flying.

Kiba yelled out as he saw her falling it was only luck that she landed on a large branch which stopped her falling although she looked like she was out cold.

Naruto was about to see if she was okay since he was closest but he heard something coming up from behind him. He was only just able to turn around when someone's fist hit his face. The sound ninja Sakon had been waiting for a sneak attack and he saw the perfect time to attack them from behind. The blonde boy was the first target as his fist slammed into the boy's face. He then quickly delivered a kick to the girl next to him with the large thing on her back. He managed to catch her in the ribs nearly causing her to fall to the ground.

Sakon only just barely managed to dodge a pair of kunai thrown at him from the masked on. From the vest he was wearing and how he felt a cut on his cheek the man was either chunin or above. The man was already coming at him quickly and Sakon leapt down to the unconscious girl. A hostage would come in handy and also it was the perfect way to slow them down. Grabbing the back of the girl's jacket he started to jump away from them.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled out seeing this. "We have to go after her."

"I'll do it," Kiba yelled out to him. "Go on ahead, me and Akamaru will rescue her."

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Kakashi asked the boy.

Kiba only smiled at him, "She's our teammate and we owe her one. Don't worry we can handle one of them and Sasuke isn't far ahead this guy is just trying to slow us down. Besides she saved us from that explosion so it's our turn to save her." Kiba and his dog jumped away chasing after the ninja that took Hinata.

"Are we really going to let him go like that?" Naruto asked.

"He made his choice to get his comrade back while leaving the mission in our care," Kakashi told him. "Let's not disappoint him."

Kiba traveled as fast as he could, thankfully he and Akamaru knew Hinata's scent almost by second nature given how long they spent in each other's time. He was keeping an eye out trying to find out where she was. Then down by the forest floor he noticed something on one of the trunks. He saw Hinata pinned to a tree, he couldn't tell if she was still alive but Akamaru didn't smell blood at least. She looked to be pinned to the tree with several kunai into her jacket.

He knew it was a trap but he had to make sure she was okay, giving Akamaru a command to watch his back he jumped down and ran to her. He knew an attack was coming, what kind he wasn't sure he only hoped that it wasn't another explosive tag. He wasn't too far away when a figure seemed to come out of nowhere, whoever this guy was he was fast.

But Kiba had been expecting it, he quickly turned around to meet his attacker, Kiba's fist came up to intercept a punch as he grinned. "Not this time." Kiba told him as Akamaru leapt to attack the man from behind.

What neither of them expected was the thing on the back of him to move, the other head opened its eyes as he looked at Akamaru leaping at him. The other face smiled as a fist seemed to grow out of the boy's back and punched the small white dog.

"What the hell!" Kiba had thought that thing had been a fake of some kind but now it was twisting to look at Kiba.

"I get woken up for this?" He said in a deeper voice. "You're getting sloppy Sakon."

"My apologies big brother," Sakon grinned as he kicked Kiba's ribs, before they hit two more sets of legs grew out of it, making three kicks in one to Kiba. The extra impact was felt by Kiba as he was kicked across the forest nearly a dozen feet. "Now look what you've done, you've gone and woke up my older brother Ukon."

"What the hell was that?" Kiba coughed out hoping his ribs weren't bruised too badly from that. "How are the two of you together?"

"We're just special," Sakon smirked over at the boy while his brother kept watch on the dog. "We can merge together, I guess you can say we're as close as siblings can get."

"Sakon we don't have time for this," Ukon said to his brother. "The rest of his team will be going after Tayuya and Sasuke isn't done yet. You know what will happen if we fail in this mission."

"Yeah I do," Sakon wasn't happy about hurrying up but the thought of what would happen to them if Orochimaru didn't get Sasuke wasn't something he wanted to think about. Plus his brother was always the most impatient one. "Fine then, looks like we'll have to take this up a notch for this."

Black markings grew all over their body as they activated the first level of their power. They came at Kiba and he was surprised by how much faster his opponent was moving. The guy was fast before but now he was moving twice as fast. When Kiba felt the blows they were even stronger as well. He couldn't go head to head at least not just yet. He jumped back to get some distance as he landed next to Akamaru.

"Well you're not the only ones who can team up, right boy?" Kiba asked as she crouched down as his dog barked an affirmative. "Human beast clone!"

There was some smoke and now there were two versions of Kiba only both were more feral in appearance. This allowed both Kiba and Akamaru the best of both worlds, they could both use jutsu and also Kiba was faster and stronger in this form.

"Double Piercing Fang!" Kiba cried out as both turned into spinning whirlwinds of destruction as they flew at the twin brothers. Sakon and Ukon dodged them as best they could, the trees in the area gave a lot of room to hide but the two Konoha team members just went through the trees. Both were being careful to keep the fight away from Hinata though.

Trees fell and collapsed as they destroyed the area. Kiba and Akamaru stopped after they had cleared a decent fight area out of the way. Kiba looked for the two brothers but they seemed to be hiding out, which meant they were planning something. He tried to take a sniff out of the air to see if he could get a scent. All the trees and broken trees had sent up a lot of wood, leaf and dirt into the air. He thought he smelt something that might be them when his sensitive ears picked up footsteps from above and behind him.

He turned just in time to see Sakon and Ukon but now only in the second form of their curse mark. They didn't want to drag this out for too long and needed to get rid of this boy and his dog soon, then take care of the girl and catch up to Tayuya. Now in their second form their faces looked more like devils, with two large horns on their heads to complete the look.

Both Kiba and Akamaru were kicked across the now created open area into a few broken down trees. Akamaru had lost his transformation turning back into a dog as Kiba tried to get up. The Sound ninja was on him in a second, blow after blow landed on Kiba as they focused on him thinking taking him out would be the key to things.

Kiba dodged as best as he could but the ninja was too fast and the blows were like hammer blows against him. He wanted to try out this new jutsu that might work but there were problems with it. The forest made it really hard to use. Just using the piercing fang through the trees had been slightly damaging. He also needed to get some distance and time but his opponent wasn't letting him, finally was the fact that with Hinata there he had to be extremely careful.

Suddenly Sakon grabbed Kiba by the throat holding him up. "Got you now, I think it's time to finish this." He pulled back his hand ready to keep punching him in the face until he went limp, then he would finish him off.

Akamaru however was up and running the little dog jumped off a fallen tree high up into the air overhead before spinning. Sakon looked up and suddenly found his eyes being covered in the dog's urine.

"Awww what the hell is that?" He screamed out as he felt it burning. Akamaru went to a bite at the throat but Ukon saw him and grew a fist out of his shoulder to punch the small dog hard.

Sakon let go as he tried to wipe the offensive liquid out of his eyes.

Kiba was dropped as he coughed feeling how rough his throat was, he was worried about Akamaru but he had an opening. He went to a kunai when his whole body suddenly felt a large amount of pain. He cried out wondering if he had some kind of strange internal injury or something.

"I bet you're wondering what's going on huh?" Ukon's voice was heard right next to him.

Kiba looked over shocked to see Ukon's head growing out of Kiba's own shoulder.

"What the hell!"

Ukon just grinned, "With this seal activated I can transfer over into another body, right down to the cellular structure. I went over after I punched your dog while by brother had you by the throat. Now let's try something else like your liver."

"Argh!" Kiba fell forward stopping himself by planting a hand onto the ground.

Ukon just laughed, "Well this will be fun."

When Hinata started to regain consciousness she felt like her skull was splitting. The back of her head hurt and she felt a few other aches and pains. She was trying to remember what happened when she remembered the explosion. As her mind cleared she noticed she was pinned to a tree and looking around she saw that Kiba and Akamaru were fighting. She had to help but she couldn't seem to be able to move. She tried get lose but she was stuck good. A kunai was in each sleeve, one in each side and another pinning her hood to the tree.

"Well looks who is awake."

Hinata looked to see that the voice in horror to see a demon like face sticking out of Kiba's body.

"Hinata!" Kiba cried out as he fought against his own body.

"You know while my brother is fixing his eyes I'll let you watch as the girl dies," he told him. "I'll hold you here as my brother finishes her off and you can die watching. Or maybe I'll just kill you now and do it myself."

Kiba couldn't let him do that, if he could somehow at least give Hinata a fighting chance. He couldn't move from this spot but maybe he could get rid of his unwanted passenger. He had a plan, kind of a stupid one he knew but it was the only thing he could think of. Plus if it worked maybe he might have enough strength for one last attack at the other.

"So if you're a part of me tell me," Kiba reached for a kunai. "Will you feel the same damage as me?" With that he plunged his weapon into his own stomach. He had never been stabbed before and it hurt, the cutting of your flesh felt like fire for a split second before it left only pain.

"You fool, what are you doing!" Ukon shouted out in pain.

"Taking you with me," Kiba grunted.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata said in horror at what her teammate was doing to himself just to protect her. She fought harder to try and free herself. Finally the kunai in one of her sleeves finally seemed to give. She could move an arm but that was it at the moment. She looked to see the other ninja coming back his eyes still slightly closed as it looked like he was having trouble seeing.

Sakon gripped Kiba by his neck as Ukon slid out of Kiba and back into his twin. Sakon threw Kiba aside against a tree.

Hinata knew she didn't have much time, although her body still hurt she needed to do something. She couldn't pull out all the kunai in time. So she unzipped her jacket hoping it would be slack enough, it was as she slipped out of it leaving it against the tree as she ran forward.

"The girl is coming," Ukon told his brother. He was feeling better being in his twin brother but some of the damage was still there.

"I can't see her all that well," Sakon snarled out everything was blurred. There was no water anywhere, he had used the sleeve at his best to wipe off the offensive fluids but still his eyes hurt.

"Then let me take control for now," The elder brother said as he felt the control of the body slip to him. He turned to face the young girl as she ran forward.

Hinata activated her eyes as she looked at his chakra network. She had never seen anything like it in her life she never even heard of such a thing. There were two chakra coils and they were all over the place, none of the normal chakra channels were there, well they were, only they were all rearranged. She stuck out with a palm trying to hit anything vital that she could see inside of his body.

Ukon blocked the blow with one of his armoured arms with his forearm. The girl didn't know the special ability that he and his brother shared. Another fist grew out of that arm in a right cross to the girl's head. To his surprise she actually ducked under it hitting him a few times in the stomach as he forced himself back. He thought it was just a fluke when he went for a kick much like the one he used on Kiba, but once again it was like she knew what they were going to do.

In a way Hinata did, she could see the chakra change as another limb was going to grow out of him. It was quick but she noticed the change and so she dodged and countered. She kept sealing his chakra points off, doing any kind of internal damage that she could but it was hard to see what was a vital spot and what wasn't in the mess. She didn't give up as she fought on.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakon demanded of his brother. "I feel injured inside did she stab us with something?"

"What?" Ukon hadn't noticed at first his own pain slowly fading but he did feel it. Internal injuries but the girl was only using her fists. In fact she hadn't done any damage at all to their skin given how tough it was. So why did he feel like he had taken injuries?

Hinata was breathing hard, it wasn't easy to keep out of reach the twins had gotten a few blows in. One of the shots hit her head and the headache she had felt much worse now. It was a struggle to keep her eyes activated with a head injury let alone having most likely two of them.

Ukon charged forward as he swung at the girl, she countered with a blow to his elbow, thigh and ribs all in a second. The girl's fist were damned fast he was about to counter when he suddenly coughed up blood as did his brother. "What…what the hell!"

Kiba chuckled a bit seeing this, "You guys don't know what the Hyuga are capable are you? She's been tarring you guys apart from the inside."

"What!" Sakon couldn't seem to move his leg anymore for some reason. "Switch legs I can't move mine."

"I've been trying!" Ukon yelled back he had noticed it as well but shifting their bodies around had suddenly gotten a lot more difficult.

Hinata saw her chance, she felt she had gotten a handle on how their chakra networked was set up as she got into her stance. "Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms!"

She rushed forward as her arms became blurs as blow after blow rained down on them.

"Two strikes, four strikes, eight strikes, sixteen strikes…thirty-two strikes!" Hinata said counting the blows. She had hit all his vital areas, she was sure of it as the two brothers cried out in rage at being defeated.

Their bodies slowly turned back to normal as they couldn't use chakra anymore, the internal injuries piled up as organs failed to work and internal bleeding starting to happen. Sakon gurgled something out reaching for the girl as she fell forward. The body started to twitch as the life slowly drained out of them. Within a moment the twins lay still as the last of their life seeped away.

Hinata went to Kiba quickly to see him still resting against the tree holding the bleeding wound he had given himself in order to protect Hinata. She saw the blood and quickly tried to think of something to use to stop it. She checked her equipment but there wasn't much. She ran over to her jacket and using one of the kunai cut it up to make a makeshift pressure bandage.

"H-here let me place it on," Hinata said as she pressed it into the wound. He winced and grunted in pain from it. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you!"

He gave a small laugh, "don't worry about it. At least I'm still alive, how's Akamaru?"

She went over to check on the small dog as she brought him back. She gently placed him next to Kiba. "He seems alive but I don't know how badly hurt he was."

"He's tough, he'll pull through."

Hinata looked down not able to take her eyes off the blood soaked clothing. "You didn't have to do that you know," she said softly looking down. She felt horrible that he had gotten hurt because of her.

"Hey we're teammates and I wouldn't let him kill you," Kiba told her smiling despite the pain. He really might have placed that kunai a bit too deep. It hurt like hell, it was kind of funny this might be the worst injury he had ever gotten and it was self inflicted. It was a good thing he hadn't gone for his heart at least, since he wasn't sure this would have worked out anyway.

"Kiba-kun…" Hinata felt awful, she felt like this was all her fault and that Kiba had done this to save her. She felt weak at that moment for all of this. "This is all my fault that you're hurt…"

"Hey don't say that," Kiba winced a bit. "You saved me and Akamaru from that exploding tag, than you go and take out that guy. You're a lot stronger than you think and I'm proud to be on your team."

She looked up at him in surprise and felt touched that he said those words. She didn't get praise all that much but from Kiba it felt special. Maybe because he was her teammate and close friend that she felt this way. Although she was scared that Kiba's injures might be too much, she couldn't carry both him and Akamaru to safety and neither one would let the other be left behind. But if he didn't get help he might bleed to death.

She wasn't sure what to do when Kiba looked up and tensed up. "Someone's coming, I can hear them."

Hinata got up and got into a fighting stance, she wouldn't let anyone harm Kiba and Akamaru. She was prepared to face anything when a figure langed in front of them from the tall treetops.

"Wow another set down," Anko said looking at the two of them. "Jeez what the hell is going on here? First the other Hyuga boy and that bun haired girl and now you two."

"Anko-san!" Hinata was happy to see the older woman as she relaxed. "What about Neji-niisan and Tenten-san?"

"Well they were a bit messed up from when the others got there," Anko recalled. She had been on her way to catching up when Shizune had shown up with a group of medic ninja, they had fixed whatever injuries they could on Anko as they went on. Anko still felt a few injuries and her shoulder still ached but it was good enough. They had come upon the two genin as they were both near death.

"Shizune is taking care of them personally with a few others," Anko told them. "There should be a couple more medics on their way, man they're too slow, I had to leave them in the dust to catch up to you guys. So how are you guys?"

"Akamaru is hurt and I got a hole in my gut," Kiba gritted his teeth as he felt the pain there.

"Well I don't know about your dog but damn a gut wound? Those suck, but with the medics on their way they should get here, I left a pretty easy trail." Anko then looked at Hinata, she bent down and took a long look at the girl with narrowed eyes.

It made Hinata very uncomfortable as she fidgeted. "I-Is something wrong?"

"Jeez what are you a B-cup or even a C-cup already at that age?" Anko said to her, making both the boy and girl blush. "Damn I wish I had started to fill out that well at your age, I didn't get my tits until I was fifteen and even then it took a while to get them like this." She illustrated the point by groping her own breasts slightly.

Hinata was so embarrassed as she covered her chest, her face now fully red.

"Hey you should hid those, I bet all the boys would notice you more, right?" Anko asked Kiba with a wink.

"W-Why are you asking me!" Kiba said all red in the face.

"Huh? You don't like girls with large chests or just girls in general? Not that there is anything wrong with that, if you're into boys that's okay too."

"I like girls!" He shot back feeling the need to defend his manhood.

"With large breasts?"

"Of course!" Then Kiba realized what he said as he dropped his head. He really wished his wound would kill him now. He wanted to die from it and he really didn't want to see Hinata's reaction.

Anko snickered. "Well at least you got taste, take good care of him girl the medics will be here soon and think about showing off more. If you got to keep a jacket just do what I do and keep it open. Bye-bye, I got to catch up now." Anko nearly laughed seeing the embraced teens. She had done that to help them think on something else than the boy's injuries, well that and it was fun messing with them.

Although damn, she wasn't lying about wishing she had developed earlier like that girl had. Sometimes life wasn't fair, especially to women.

But at the moment she was more worried about Kakashi's team, so far they had been forced to split up several times. She had seen the dead Sound ninja and knew that they had given their lives to slow down the team. But what more were they going to face? It was a good thing she was a good tracker at the speed the team was moving she might not had found them if they had tried to cover their trail. Still from what she could find she couldn't be to far behind, she just hoped that she arrived in time to help out.

**Next up Chapter 37: Battlegrounds**

**Sorry this would have been up sooner just had some trouble getting it done.**


	37. Battlegrounds

**Sorry this should have been out days ago but I got screwed over at work and on my last day before my days off I was told I was going to be put on a different shift. So after two midnights (11pm to 7am) I was told I would only get one day off and then 3 mids…yeah that sucked. I never want to do 5 mids ever again, I think I actually got a bit sick from it, still am slightly sick as well.**

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 37: Battlegrounds**

If Tayuya was any less of a ninja, her legs would have been killing her and her back wouldn't have been too far behind. Carrying a large wooden basket that held a person nearly her own size and weight wasn't something any normal person could do. Thankfully a ninja was trained to be stronger and go farther than a normal person, chakra helped a lot with that. But even she had limits and when she hit the large open field of grass she was grateful for it.

Jumping from tree to tree was tiring, although as she cast a look back, she was wondering what was keeping the others. This was getting ridiculous, could the rest of them have fallen to Konoha? Either that or they were slowed down, either one wasn't good. She had a feeling there were others still behind her and with Sasuke she was slowed down. Tayuya really hoped to reach the boarder before they caught up, then unless the ninja following were willing to go into enemy territory, it would be smooth sailing afterward.

She felt something move on her back and for a moment she just thought the container was loose in the straps. When it jerked more powerfully this time she knew it was time. She didn't have a choice to stop, Sasuke needed to get out and without the container they could make more speed anyway. She dropped it and stood back as dark energies seem to seep out of the wooden planks. The movement was a good sign, the few that had failed this that she had seen, well there wasn't much left to move at any rate.

Suddenly the container broke apart as Sasuke knelt there breathing deeply.

"Sasuke, hey look up," She knew there was a slight disorientation at times from this and wanted to get his mind focused.

Sasuke couldn't believe it was over, it seemed like an eternity had passed and yet no time at all had passed at the same time. It was hard to describe just what he had gone through; it was more metaphysical in nature what he experienced was the best way to start. But how that the light was finally around him he felt things like he was just reborn. In fact that was a good way to explain how he felt, he felt like he was just born into the world all over again.

He heard Tayuya trying to get his attention but the power he felt was amazing. He slowly stood up his body feeling slightly stiff. He looked at his hands as he slowly opened and closed them, he could feel it. The power in him, in his very veins, maybe right down to his cells, they all felt energized. He had never felt better in his whole life, he felt like he would take on the world and win. Was this the power that Orochimaru promised him, or was this just an example of what he could expect? Whatever the case, he could see he was finally on the path for true power, the power to finally avenge the blood of the Uchiha and to make his mark on the world.

"Hey! Wake the fuck up!" Tayuya yelled at him.

Sasuke looked up and noticed her for the first time.

"How do you feel?" She asked him, there was some part of her that seemed concerned but she didn't want to accept that. Every since she had met him things had been stirring in her that she didn't totally understand. She would explore that latter when she got the time but now she was hoping that he was focused enough to travel.

Sasuke smiled at her, "I feel great."

"Good," Her face soured as she looked behind her. "Because looks like we ran out of time."

"Sasuke!" Naruto's yell was heard clear across the field as he and the other two ran at them.

"Damn he's loud," Tayuya nearly winced at how the young blonde could be so loud. "So, now what?"

"I'm not going back," Sasuke said to her getting ready to either fight or flee. "Not after all of this."

Naruto and the others stopped ten yards away from Sasuke and Tayuya. Kakashi took the time to look and he felt his heart sink a little. Some part of him hoped that Sasuke hadn't been willing, but looking at it now, the boy was getting ready to attack. Kakashi could tell with the way Sasuke was holding himself. He would berate himself for failing his student later, now he had a mission to do.

"Sasuke what the hell are you doing!" Naruto demanded of the boy. "Why are you running away from your home and from us?"

"You're an idiot as always," Sasuke stated at Naruto. "That place was never 'home' to me, it was just the place I lived. My true home I lost a long time ago. Now it's just buildings and people I know, I have no bonds left with that village."

"Bastard! What about your friends?" Naruto yelled at him. "What about Sakura-chan? You know she cares about you so why did you have to hurt her like that?"

"You mean the pink haired bitch?" Tayuya asked with a smirk her hand on her flute. "If you mean her injuries I did that, all he did was sit back and let me do it. It was easy, she was so weak."

Naruto didn't like anyone calling any of his precious people that sure his feelings of Sakura were no longer what they were. She would always be his first crush and maybe first love but now she was his closest friend and teammate. She was as important to him as anyone he had in his life and no one bad mouthed his friends. He was about to move when Kakashi slammed a hand down quickly on the boy's shoulder.

Kakashi knew the girl was baiting Naruto, if this was going to be a battle then he would make the battle on his terms. There had been enough of the fighting on their terms as it was. "Sasuke Uchiha," Kakashi said in a professional tone, although it killing a little of him to say this to his own student. "You are charged with abandoning the village, allying with an enemy and being an accessory to a physical assault against a fellow ninja. You will come back to the village to be judged, if you flee you will be a missing nin and…you will be killed on sight."

Naruto looked up in horror at what Kakashi was saying, he just wanted to get Sasuke back, maybe they could talk him out of it. Naruto felt that if only he could reach Sasuke and make him see how things were. He had managed to do the same with Gaara who was driven insane by his demon. He had managed to touch the heart of the merciless killer Zabuza Momochi of the Hidden Mist. If he couldn't reach Sasuke, then what good was he?

"Naruto," Temari whispered to him knowing what was basically going through his head. "He's got to make the choice himself you can't control people. He's done a lot to answer for but he's got one last choice here. If he attacks, there is no helping him, even if we take him back he'll stand trial." She didn't say how he could be executed for his crimes but he didn't need to hear that part. Although some part of her felt that he might already know that.

Kakashi was about to make a move when he shouted a warning pulling his two team members back as several objects landed in the places they had just stood. He noticed that they looked like some kind of ivory, even bone but no one would use bone weapons, at least not normal ones.

A figure wearing sound ninja style clothing with white hair came at them. The boy had been very silent, obviously someone more skilled than normal for someone of his years Kakashi observed. The boy kicked Naruto in the face jumped over Kakashi's own attack with a kunai and kicked away Temari's fan. The new enemy followed up with an elbow to her gut and would have kicked her temple with a round house kick if she hadn't ducked.

Temari went for her fan as Naruto closed in but the older boy easily dodged Naruto's attacks and out of the long sleeves a long bone like short sword seemed to come out of nowhere. Naruto felt the blade cut his sleeve as she tried to dodge. Naruto was instead kicked the ribs sent away as Kakashi rushed in trying to get in on the boy's blind side but the boy was about as fast as he was.

Seeing Kimimaro was a shock to Tayuya, the guy was their old leader but dying. He had been put into medical stasis to prolong his life but if he was let out, this meant two things. This would be his last mission and also just how important it was to have Sasuke. Kimimaro was a onetime use now, they would never think of using him up for anything unimportant. Knowing that, she took Sasuke's hand and ran.

"Come on, Kimimaro will stall them long enough for us to get away!" She yelled at him. She saw the look on his face he would rather fight and use his new power. She knew the feelings that were going through him, everyone who passed that last test wanted to taste in the glory of their new power. Now wasn't the time for that and he would have to learn that. "We don't have time to fight, you want to fight, do it later. Or would you rather wait until more ninja show up and then we're screwed. Unless you want to be taken back as a prisoner and either executed or spend the rest of your life in a fucking cell!"

Sasuke did burn with the urge to fight but she had a point. He had burned his bridge with the Leaf behind him that was his past and he needed to head for his future.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled out seeing him run off with the other girl. He tried to run after them but was blocked by Kimimaro. The older boy nearly impaled him with his bone weapon before Temari jumped in, blocking it with the metal of her fan. The boy didn't let up kicking her away, spinning as he dodged Naruto's counter attack and kicked him as well.

"I will not let you pass." Kimimaro stated. "Sasuke has joined the Sound and will be part of it, it is Orochimaru's will."

"Like hell I'll let that happen!" Naruto created a large number of clones and sent them after Kimimaro. As the Sound ninja was easily taking care of them, Temari was about to ready her fan when Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I want you two to go after Sasuke and the girl, I'll deal with this boy." Kakashi stepped forward glad that Naruto's clones were keeping him busy. "I'll be along shortly."

Kimimaro saw the two blonde genins going after Sasuke and Tayuya, he increased his efforts to stop them but the masked ninja got in the way, he was forced back by Kakashi's attacks with a kunai. Every time he tried to get around the silver haired man, he was there blocking the way. It was apparent he wouldn't be able to stop the two young genins, he would have to deal with the man in front of him.

**-Valley of the End-**

Tayuya had never seen this valley, but the huge two statues were hard to miss. They stood facing each other with a waterfall between them. She had to admit, it was impressive although she wasn't sure why they had bothered with this. She doubted the Uchiha had wanted to have one of their leaders remembered as a traitor and enemy. She smirked looking at Sasuke.

"What?" He demanded.

"I guess in a way you're doing the same thing that Madara Uchiha guy did," Tayuya jerked a thumb at the large statue. "He left the village because he wanted more power too huh?"

"It was a bit more complicated than that," Sasuke wasn't really sure on all the details. His family didn't talk about the man all the much, apparently it was a sour topic for the clan. "we can sight see another time, they won't be far behind."

They moved off and where at the other end of the valley when they heard Naruto's yell.

"God damn it...doesn't he ever fucking quit?" Tayuya said in annoyance.

Sasuke saw that it was only Naruto and Temari, "I'm tired of this."

Sensing what he was thinking she nodded her head, these people had been on their heels the entire time. She was getting tired of the non-stop pace and running away from the fight. She took her flute out looking at the Temari woman. "I got the bitch."

"Fine with me," Sasuke smirked seeing Naruto over there. It was time to finally end this and see who was stronger once and for all. "She's a wind user, get her fans away and she can't use any wind techniques."

"Oh great a long range user," Tayuya was a close up fighter a total mismatch. She started to play her flute as three monsters formed around her as Sasuke ran off to face Naruto.

Temari looked at the creatures, they sure were ugly things but she wasn't too worried. Although she knew she wasn't a close combat fighter like these things seemed to be, she wouldn't give them the chance. Temari pulled open her fan all the way, showing all three moons, she wasn't going to hold back or take her time with this.

Temari swung her fan, the huge wind blast that was created blowing the three creatures away. They seemed solid enough although she was sure they weren't summons. Well whatever they were she noticed something. Tayuya had to grab hold of a rock to steady her from the wind attack. When she had done that, she had also stopped playing her flute.

Temari looked to see that the monsters just stood where they had landed. She smirked seeing the flaw in whatever the sound ninja's skills were. As long as the flute wasn't playing those things were useless. Now she just had to move in closer for her wind to be more effective. She jumped off her high vantage point, using her fan as a glider to get into closer range.

Tayuya cursed as she brought up her flute again, she needed to get her ogres back in action before this girl got too close. She had been on the other side of the damn valley and already that wind had been nasty. If she hadn't grabbed onto the large rock she would have been blown off her feet. Closer, that wind would smash her against the rock walls of this valley.

The ogres attacked Temari in the air or tried to. She was pretty high up but they could jump high as well. Temari was forced to stop her advance, in this state she couldn't use her fan as a weapon and they were surrounding her now. She grabbed her fans handle and closed it making her fall, she quickly twisted it back and opened it, attacking straight down now. The wind from this caused a geyser of water to shoot up around her, forcing the creatures back. She landed on the water, using her chakra to stay on it.

She was thankful that in her time in Konoha, she had improved on this ability. The water fell around her like rain as she was getting ready for another attack. She was a lot closer now and if she could get in one good shot, then her enemy would be completely open. A blast from this range would give her the advantage. She saw the creatures trying to get to her but they wouldn't get there in time.

Then she had seen it, Naruto had tried to make some large human chain of clones and Sasuke had set them all on fire. Temari felt her heart stop for a moment when she thought Naruto had been in that. She heard Sasuke yell something as he grabbed the original and slammed him head first into the water. From that height and impact it would be enough to break someone's neck and spine if not kill them.

"Naruto!" She yelled out in fear.

"Got you now bitch!" Tayuya yelled out as Temari quickly turned back to her fight.

It was too late, she had been distracted and Tayuya took advantage of this fight. Her ogres attacked as one, one took her fan away from her, another punched her hard in the gut making her double over slightly. She felt a blow to her face as her vision swam from the impact. She tried to get the two smaller fans on her waist but two of them grabbed her arms, the third continued to land blow after blow. She felt blood in her mouth and face from a few cuts from the attacks. She felt her legs go as a few blows to her stomach took the air out.

Tayuya smirked as the tormented the girl she used her flute to play a melody of death to the blonde woman. One of the ogres slammed its elbow into Temari's arm she managed to scream out as the joint gave way the limb breaking. One final punch came, as it connected, the two holding her let go. She felt herself being weightless as she tried to look for Naruto. One of her eyes was swelling shut as she thought she saw something glowing red. She blacked out when she landed on the ground her last thoughts were of Naruto.

Tayuya wiped her brow that had been a tough fight, if the girl hadn't gotten distracted for that opening, she wasn't sure if she could have beaten her. That damn fan of hers could have taken her out in one shot if she had ever surprised attacked her or if they were closer. It was then she felt it, a killing intent so large she felt like an icy fist had been plunged into her chest. A large yell that nearly sounded like a roar got her attention. There on the water Naruto was getting back up.

"How the fuck…" She had seen the final blow that should have either crippled or killed him. He was getting up like nothing had happened, then she noticed the red glow about him, it took shape as he looked at Temari and then at her. Even from a distance she could tell something was wrong here. His eyes looked blood red and something looked different, he crouched down like an animal as the red chakra started to form into a tailed animal of some kind.

"What the hell is he?" Tayuya said to herself in a whisper.

"Tayuya, get out of there!" Sasuke warned her.

That brought her out of it as she tried to get away, but Naruto charged at her at amazing speed. She tried to bring up her flute and called her ogres back. They appeared in front of Naruto but somehow he made a large claw of that red chakra, it tore her ogres apart in one move. She had never seen anything like this before.

"_**You…hurt…Temari!"**_ Naruto roared out as he made the large claw slam into the red headed sound ninja. She yelled out in pain as it slammed her against the rock wall. She coughed out blood and the claw felt like it was burning her. Naruto let her go and the sound ninja fell to the ground unconscious.

"Tayuya!" Sasuke yelled out seeing her fall like that made something inside of him snap. He needed more power and called on any and all power he could gather from his curse seal. Naruto noticed the change as Sasuke began to change as well. His skin darkened as large clawed hands grew out of his back looking like demonic wings. "I'll kill you for that." Sasuke said to him. "Time to finish this Naruto!"

Naruto roared in answer as he charged at Sasuke.

**-Kakashi-**

Kakashi had to admit this boy's bloodline was nothing short of amazing. From what he could gather the boy was actually using his own body to make bone weapons and the bones were very hard, about the same density as metal. Kakashi thought he remembered reading a report once on a bloodline like this, he couldn't remember all the details it was a long time ago. But it had stuck with him how unusual it was. Although he thought the report said that the clan had been wiped out. Too bad he couldn't remember the clan name or anything else about it. He could use more information in his fight.

The boy was extremely agile and quick too, a deadly combination. Thankfully Kakashi had slowly been pushing the fight into his favour, the boy seemed to sense this as well and that was when Kimimaro activated his curse seal. The black markings were much different than what Kakashi had known about Sasuke's and also seemed to be complete. He also noticed that the boy was fighting harder and faster than ever. Kakashi actually had to use his sharingan to keep up.

Kakashi had to give the young boy credit, if he lived to adult hood this boy would be become a dangerous S Class ninja. Although a part of his mind was also a little embarrassed a boy this young was pushing him this far. There were geniuses like Itachi but still, after this he was going to train himself a bit more. If this was the kind of forces that Orochimaru had he needed to up his own game.

Kimimaro knew he couldn't drag this out too much longer, he was on borrowed time and he felt like he could feel his life slowly slipping away. He had to beat this masked man, but he was already on the first level of his seal. He had to push it even further, he knew that by doing this it could accelerate his condition but he needed to kill this man and make sure Sasuke made it to Orochimaru.

Just when Kakashi thought he had seen it all in the ninja world, this boy started to transform again. The boy's skin turned dark and large bones grew out of his body. He even grew a large tail. Kakashi had seen a lot of strange things but even he never knew that the curse seal had this kind of power. A power to actually change a person into some kind of fearsome monster, he doubted that even Anko knew about this.

The boy's speed was even greater and Kakashi was hard pressed to avoid all the attacks, even with the sharingan which let him see the attacks coming, was the only reason he hadn't been killed yet. It was time to end this as he clashed with the sound ninja. He started up the hand seals as he jumped back. When he landed he had finished them as an electrical storm was on one of his ha hands making the sounds of thousands of birds. He ran forward avoiding the boy sending small bone projectiles at him.

He was about to strike when Kimimaro grew large bones that covered one whole arm, he used this to block at Kakashi's chidori slammed into it. The boy grunted in pain and Kakashi could see the bones broken as he pulled his hand out but it hadn't gone all the way through. Kimimaro's tail wiped around hitting Kakashi across his side, sending him flying, Kakashi twisted so that he would land on his feet.

Kakashi took a second to see the damage, the boy's arm was bleeding at the bones broke away but other than that he was unharmed. It looked like the bones took most of his attack, this was bad. The chidori was a precise attack, to go for the weak or vital areas of a person. It didn't have blunt force that he would need to break through the boy's defences. There was one technique that could do it but he would need a way open. He doubted this ninja would just let him.

Then out of nowhere a large fireball engulfed the boy, Kakashi looked to his right and smiled under his mask and a sense of relieve filled him. Anko stood there ready for a fight and although looking a little ragged it surprised him how seeing her made him feel.

"I thought I'm the one that usually late?" Kakashi smiled at her.

She scowled at him, "Hey the fat little punk had a few tricks I didn't know about. Anyways the medical team showed up and are taking care of the others, they won the fight but a few looked a little messed up. So how about you then? The great Kakashi is taking this long to beat some little kid?"

Kakashi chose to ignore that, especially when the sound ninja burst through the flames only slightly scorched. He heard Anko curse, most likely because he hadn't been as damaged by that as she had hoped he would be. Apparently his skin was a lot tougher in that form but the boy looked pissed. He threw his hands into the ground and suddenly both Kakashi and Anko had to dodge as massive bones shot out of the ground all over the area.

A small forest of sharp pointed bones was soon covering the area.

"Great, now what?" Anko asked him.

"I need a distraction, you know the double blindside combo right?" Kakashi asked her feeling a cut on his uniform. He had just been a little too slow but it was just a scratch nothing major apparently.

"Of course I do, so you're the blindside?" She saw him nod. "Works for me, better give me some room then." Anko took out a kunai and made several small cuts on her fingers, she would have to call out the bigger guns for this one. She slammed the bloody balm on the ground as she summoned two very large snakes.

"You two go wide, I'm going straight," She commanded the two snakes. She didn't really use them all that much as they were her most aggressive snakes that she could call on. That and anything larger would require some human sacrifices and she wasn't willing to do that, unless it was the enemy. The two fifteen foot snakes shoot out, winding around the bones as they tried to attack the boy in the center of it all.

Kimimaro saw this and wasn't impressed, he saw Kakashi trying to get around, he saw Anko and the two snakes. Suddenly large bone spikes grew out of his body, he was tracking them all waiting for his moment. He grunted as he felt the blood pooling in his mouth, he spit it out as his body was feeling more tired and worn down. The two snakes attacked first as he shot out the spikes on his arms, they impaled the snakes as they turned to smoke. Anko leaped up and threw her kunai and released the fire jutsu she had been holding in her.

Kimimaro opened his mouth as bone projectiles intercepted the kunai, his arms came together to make large bones to protect him from the fire. He bit back a cry of pain, using his abilities so much was killing him and the strain on his body was proving to be almost too much. He knew Kakashi was now behind him. His tail lashed out and slammed into his chest, but instead of blood this Kakashi turned to smoke.

Kakashi took this moment to start his real attack he had slipped behind the large bones to make a shadow clone to be his distraction, now the boy was wide open for his attack. Kakashi had never really used this technique in battle before, mainly because he felt that he shouldn't out of respect. This was that man's technique and to Kakashi the people that should use it were limited to Jiraiya and Naruto and whoever they saw fit to teach it. But this was a special case and he figured they and his teacher wouldn't mind, given the circumstances.

He jumped off a bone as he aimed for the sound ninja's back, one of his hands as he held the sphere of chakra.

"Rasengan!" Kakashi shouted as he slammed the technique of his sensei into the spine of his enemy. The sound ninja yelled out in surprise and pain as the powerful move tore into him. The sound ninja was slammed into the ground causing a large amount of earth to be blasted up form the force of the impact. When the dusk cleared a panting Kakashi stood over the boy whose body was slowly turning back to normal.

Anko looked at the scene and then looked up at Kakashi, "When the hell did you learn that move!" Like any experienced ninja of the village, she had heard of the rasengan, although she had never actually seen it in action.

Kakashi chuckled, "Did you forget who my teacher was? Anyways it looks like he's through," Kakashi and Anko looked down to see that the boy had finished reverting back to normal and was unmoving. It was a shame really, the boy had a lot of promise thought Kakashi looking down at him. Kakashi looked up to Anko, "Come on, we're not finished this yet."

Anko nodded in agreement leaving the body behind as they made their way to where the others had gone off to. They ran through the forest on the other side of their battle as fast as they could. Kakashi noticed little notches in the tree line, most likely from Temari marking the path, she always did think ahead. It started to get dark and he noticed storm clouds showing up, he cursed at that. If it rained and they still hadn't found Sasuke, any tracks would be lost. None of his summon ninja dogs would be able to find a scent in the rain.

He felt a drop of rain on his face and mentally cursed again. Looks like everything and anything was against them on this mission. It always seemed to be the simple missions that ended up being the most screwed up for some reason. He felt a light rain before he noticed they were a few minutes from the Valley of the End. Now he knew where the Sound ninja was leading Sasuke, it was just a short trip from there to outside of the boarder and there was no boarder town in this area.

"What the hell is that?" Anko muttered feeling something in the air. There was a power hanging in it, like some kind of major battle was going on. At least that's what it felt like but the chakra to be used to feel it at this distance would be insane. It had to be something else, she had been in plenty of battles and none had the kind of chakra she was feeling now being thrown around.

In a normal battle someone who was trained in chakra could get a feel for it, most battles didn't last long so you only got fleeting sensations, ninja were used to it and normally ignored it as it was usually just a distraction anyway. But this was something different, something she had never experienced before.

Kakashi noticed it as well, "Something is going on." He had a very bad feeling about this. Suddenly there was a bright light, a moment later the shock wave was felt as though an explosion went off.

"The hell…" Anko had never seen or felt anything like that before. She noticed that Kakashi hurried up and she joined him. By the time she caught up he was already in the valley. Looking around she could see the damage to the area. "The fuck kind of fight did those brats have here?"

She wasn't sure if she should be impressed with the amount of destruction or feel a bit annoyed that she knew she couldn't have pulled off something like this when genins could. She saw Kakashi kneeling over the form of Naruto and even in the rain she could smell the blood. There was a hole in his chest and for a moment she was afraid to ask but did anyway.

"How is he?"

Kakashi was silent a moment before pulling open a few pockets on his vest. "He's still alive, I have to stop the bleeding and we need to get him medical help soon." Kakashi knew when the game was over as soon as he saw what was in the valley. Sasuke and the sound ninja were long gone, they couldn't track them in this rain and Naruto was seriously hurt.

What really made it worse was that Kakashi knew the wound was from a chidori. He had tought Sasuke that move to protect himself from Gaara it was never to be meant to be used against a fellow Leaf ninja. Sasuke had nearly killed Naruto, in fact if it had hit directly in Naruto's heart, even Naruto's impressive healing abilities wouldn't have been able to help him. It was only thanks to the Kyuubi that Naruto was still alive the bleeding was slowed but not totally stopped yet.

He placed a pressure bandage on it as he noticed Anko walking to where he noticed Temari laying. "How's Temari?" He called out as he continued with the first aid treatment.

"Looks like she has a broken arm, some bruising, maybe a concussion as well, I'm not sure about the rest but she's out cold." Anko said as she tried to help the young woman. "Damn…I really hate fucking losing. Always leaves a bad taste in my mouth." She muttered to herself.

Kakashi hoped they could meet up with the medical team on their way back, although he didn't look forward to writing this mission report up. Then again, he might rather do that then think about what would happen if Naruto didn't survive. He had failed Sasuke as a teacher he didn't want to fail Naruto as well by letting him die out here. Making sure things were patched up and that he wasn't loosing anymore blood, Kakashi picked the young teen up.

"We better hurry," Kakashi said trying to keep his emotions under control it took all his years to bury his emotions now. He would feel them later, first was to get Naruto and Temari out, then he could feel sorry for himself.

Anko did the same only grunting when she had to get Temari's large battle fan. She knew if she left it, Temari would never forgive her for it. "Damn it, why do I have to do the heavy lifting." She complained to herself. She really didn't mean it, but she was frustrated and in a bad mood now and she needed some way to vent. Looking around one last time she sighed as she looked up at the two statues.

It was like they had been silent witnesses to the entire fight that happened here, facing each other as though their fight had been continued on by the younger boys and girls that had just fought here and waiting for another fight to break out so whatever battle they had could continue on.

She glared at the statue of Madara, "hope you're fucking happy about your legacy now, because it might just have ruined the lives of a few good people." She cursed at the memory of Madara Uchiha. She wasn't sure why she did it, but something inside of her felt it was somehow appropriate. The three biggest traitors in the Leaf history had been Uchiha, which was ironic given that they were one of the founding members of her village.

'_I guess now it's come full circle,'_ She thought as she carried Temari away. _'First was the leader of the Uchiha when my village was founded, then Itachi who wiped out the clan and now Sasuke the last Uchiha to be born and still alive. Madara, Itachi and Sasuke…they're names will now forever be remembered for their actions as traitors.'_

Anko looked at Kakashi and knew this was hitting him hard even if he wasn't showing it. She knew about Obito, most that knew Kakashi did. She knew where Kakashi got his sharingan and how, and that Kakashi most likely saw Sasuke as a way to pay back the Uchiha for Obito's sacrifice. She was surprised at how concerned she felt for him, yeah sure they were friends, well friends that screwed each other silly but it was more than that.

She didn't like the idea of him in pain and she felt a small pain herself knowing he was most likely going to beat himself up over this for the rest of his life_. 'I must be going soft, I never felt like this before.'_ She felt the girl stir on her back and hoped Naruto could survive. Temari would take it hard if he didn't make it.

**Next up chapter 38: Recovery**

**If anyone was expecting both battles to be separate and more in depth sorry, but the last few chapters have been nothing but battles so I felt to combine the two, skip over the stuff we've all seen a million times and try to make it more fresh. Well only a few more chapters left.**


	38. Recovery

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 38: Recovery**

Temari wasn't sure where she was at first, her head was killing her with a dull throb and her mind felt fuzzy. She blinked a few times to get her eyes focused and noticed the white ceiling. She frowned, this wasn't where she was earlier was it? Her memories played back and she remembered seeing Naruto get badly hurt in the fight they were in.

"Naruto!" She shot up in her bed and regretted it immediately. She hissed as she felt had tried to move her injured arm. The bones had been fixed but it still hurt to move it, not to mention a few other injuries.

"You're awake!"

Temari looked to see Sakura was in the room as well over by someone else's bed. It took a moment to see that it was Tenten. She hadn't recognized the girl at first with her hair down like that. Plus she looked slightly pale and weaker. "What happened?" Temari finally asked the pink haired girl.

"You all were brought back," Sakura said looking at the arm. "Please don't move this, Shizune had to heal it but it's still very tender. Some of you were badly hurt," Sakura whispered out slightly remembering the looks of some of them as they were brought in. That had been several days ago and Tenten and Naruto hadn't woken up yet. Neji only woke up earlier this morning as well, Kiba was recovering but up, and Hinata had been only in for a couple of days before being released.

She thought back to that day they were brought back. She had seen Kiba with bloody bandages, Tenten and Neji had looked like they had been close to death. Those two had some of the worst of the injuries besides that of Naruto. Sakura had been told to help with getting items and other things. She suspected it was partly Tsunade's way of getting Sakura used to the idea of the kinds of injuries she would see in the future. Most likely it was to prepare Sakura mentally but to also see if she could handle being a medic.

The truth was, seeing those she had called friends being brought back in those states was hard. She hadn't slept that first night as bloody images kept running in her mind. She had been checking in on everyone still in the hospital and getting used to how a hospital worked when Temari woke up.

Temari winced as her arm hurt to move slightly, "Where's Naruto?"

Sakura looked down, "He was hurt pretty bad…but Tsunade said he would make a full recovery. He's in a room not far away…Did…Did Sasuke-kun really do that to him?"

Temari could see how torn the girl was about this, on the one hand Sakura had had her heart crushed by Sasuke and her team had been broken and would never be the same again. But she could tell some part of the girl held out hope. She wanted to tell her to forget but thinking on it, if it had been Naruto who left like that she would hold out hope too. Love was truly blind and it could be both blissful and more painful than anything.

"He did, I'm sorry but there's no coming back. He tried to kill Naruto." Temari said evenly although the rage in her was there. The boy had been someone close to Naruto and not only betrayed Naruto's trust but had tried to kill him. For Temari, that was unforgivable.

Sakura winced and balled her fists before regaining control. She was silent for awhile before she looked up and Temari had to feel pity for the girl. Those green eyes were so dull now and lost, filled with pain and regret. Temari wanted to say something but there were no words for something like this.

Sakura sniffed and seemed to pull some part of herself together again. "Let me get a sling for your arm, I bet you'll want to go see him but I need to check with the nurses to see if you can okay?"

Temari nodded and waited, it killed her inside to not be able to see Naruto at the moment but he was fine, she took solace in that. Hell it was the only thing that kept her from jumping out of her bed and go looking for him. Well that and the fact her body hurt in several places. She swore if she ever saw that girl again she was going to kill her. If she hadn't gotten distracted she would have won, Temari was sure of that but she had and she had paid the price for it.

Sakura had come back with a nurse who checked her over and gave some instructions, Temari only half listened but Sakura seemed to be taking it all in. Sakura helped with the sling to Temari could rest her arm. Then the younger girl helped her out of the bed and led her to Naruto's room. Temari was nervous, she had no idea what shape Naruto would be in but eventually they came to a door. Sakura opened it and after getting in they both saw Naruto.

He was covered in bandages over what they could see of his body, his head was wrapped up and he had a patch on his cheek too. Sakura was amazed at how well Naruto was doing given the state he had been in, she had stuck a look at his chart. Although she was only just starting her new training and didn't know many of the terms, she did get an idea of what he had been through.

Temari sat down in a chair as she reached out and held his hand, he was breathing softly and for a moment she felt like he could wake up any moment. She wished he would wake up, she wanted to see his bright blue eyes and his smiling face again. It just hurt so much seeing him like this.

"Do you need anything?" Sakura asked softly placing a hand on her shoulder.

Temari was about to say no but her throat was dry and she most likely hadn't eaten anything solid. "Yeah…just something to drink, maybe a small snack."

"I'll look for something and be right back," Sakura said as she paused for a moment. "He'll be fine, Tsunade-sama said so and I believe in her. Besides, you know Naruto, he always pulls through. Plus I don't think he'd want to see you sad, you know he'll just blame himself."

Despite herself, Temari gave a small smile, "Yeah he would. Could you sneak in some ramen when he wakes up? I'd get it myself but I don't think I could get out of here without anyone noticing."

Sakura smiled and this time it was a real one, "Sure thing, I think that will brighten up his day if you give him ramen to eat. Maybe you should feed him it as well, if only to make sure he doesn't get it all over his bandages."

Temari nodded nearly laughing as she could see it, it would be a pain for the nurses to have to change them just because they got dirty from his eating habits. As Sakura left Temari just sat there holding his hand and wishing he would wake up. Knowing that he would make it put her mostly at ease but she wanted him awake. She wanted her husband and love.

**-Memorial Stone-**

Kakashi looked at the stone in front of him. It was so simple and yet held so much meaning. Sometimes he wondered why it was tucked away in an area like this, almost out of sight of everyone. Maybe it was because some people didn't want to feel the need to be reminded of death. Kakashi couldn't help it, many of the most important people in his life were dead. His father's name wasn't listed here, that was a pain he felt whenever he thought of that. His father had been a great man and the way his life had ended, well there was just no justice for it. He remembered being ashamed of his father for a time after the suicide, maybe it was just a way of getting back at him for leaving him alone in the world.

He had been young and that death had hit him hard, forcing him to grow up at an early age. It was thanks to Obito that he could take pride having him as a father again.

Obito and Rin's names hurt the worst as he noticed them now, especially Obito's. How many years had he plagued himself with 'what ifs' on that day? Minato's name was also here, although seeing his face every day on that mountain was a bit better. It was like he was still watching over the village.

He usually came here to pay his respects or maybe it was a type of penance as well. To force himself to always remember them, to make sure some part of them never left this world.

He heard her coming but still didn't move, not even when she came up to him and touched his arm.

"Kakashi." Anko said simply in a way of greeting. She wasn't smiling like she normally would her face was more serious and Kakashi found he missed her smiling face.

"Anko," he said to her. She could hear the pain in him even though his voice sounded almost like it normally did. Just not with the lazy attitude it had.

"You've been coming here a lot more lately," She told him feeling worried. He was silent for a moment before she spoke again. "I heard that your team will make it and that the girl woke up today."

"That's good," Kakashi said simply.

Anko frowned, she didn't like how Kakashi was starting at that stone, half ignoring her. She didn't like to see him like this, beating himself up for something beyond his control. Well if the understanding plan of action wouldn't work then it was time to change tactics. "That's all you got to say? You should go see them at least!"

"I have been," Kakashi had been watching them at night, he hadn't been able to sleep all that well and just snuck into their rooms and just watched them. Part of the reason to ensure to himself that they were alive and would get well, also seeing young faces like theirs in that state hit even him hard. He had seen a lot of things in his years but seeing young faces dead, dying or even hurt really bad was something he never truly got used to. Yeah you can hide it, bury it deep inside but it was always there.

"I meant let them see you," Now she was in front of him poking him in his chest. "They need to see you personally you know."

"I failed them," Kakashi told her as though that explained it all. He wasn't even sure he could face them at least not yet. "I will see them, as their commander I know my duty and I will when they're all up. It's just that as their sensei…Team seven was my responsibility and now-" Anko cut him off.

"Don't you fucking dare start kicking yourself for that Uchiha boy!" She hissed at him. "Trust me I know what it means to be betrayed by someone too you know. For years I blamed myself since I can't remember what happened. Why I was thrown away, why he abandoned me and put this damn thing on my neck."

"But you know what? I don't give a damn about that anymore, he threw me away and I consider myself lucky now. Given all the things he did, I wouldn't want to follow in his footsteps knowing what I know now. You can't blame yourself for the actions of others." She glared up at him, almost challenging him to say she was wrong.

Kakashi thought about it, he knew in his head that she was right but still, some part of him kept asking what if he had done things differently. It was still a major loss, sure they had taken out several members that were reported to have been with Orochimaru during the attack apparently, but they still had lost Sasuke. That would be bad for the village's reputation, he doubted he would get blamed but Tsunade would have to face a few less than happy people about this.

He looked at Anko now, and he could notice how tense she was, this whole thing was bothering her more than it normally would. She actually went out of her way to find him and to try and make him feel better. Sure he had friends but she was the only one to do this.

"Why do you care so much about this? It's not just because you were part of the mission too is it?" he asked her honestly.

Anko fidgeted, she had hoped he wouldn't ask something like that. Truth was, she was worried about him lately. He had barely been seen and looking at him now, she could see he looked tired, most likely he hadn't been sleeping well.

"Look I…I just…" She wasn't sure what to say because she wasn't sure. "Damn it I hate this." She turned away from him not able to look at him. "When we started this whole thing between us it was just for some good sex on the side. Just a way to take the pressure off and it was working. I mean I really liked the sex part and it was relaxing just hanging out with you. Then things started to get weird."

"Weird? You were the one that wanted to try that thing with the rope and-"

"Not that!" Anko said remembering that night, that had been a good night. "I mean…I started to feel things that I never wanted to feel. When you open up and let someone in they can hurt you, I war hurt really bad the last time and I keep people at a safe distance. It's worked fine for years but now, now I'm worried about your sorry ass and it's driving me crazy!"

She had no idea why she was telling him this, but it had been on her mind for awhile now and it was driving her crazy. Maybe she just needed to finally voice it, finally get it out in the open so it would leave her alone. Sure she liked the little arrangement they had, she didn't want to complicate it but then something had changed. She couldn't say when it happened, maybe it was just a slow build, something that just blindsided her and that's why she hadn't noticed it until it was right in her face.

And the truth of it scared and confused her. Somewhere along the way her feelings of friendship with Kakashi and turned into something more, she cared more than just a friend and she had no idea what to do with it.

Kakashi was surprised by this. He thought he was the only one that had started to feel something more than just friendship for her. Truth was he liked being around her as well, she was full of life and made every day unique and even fun. She was impulsive, energetic a bit childish and someone he respected, her skills and abilities were very good. That and the sex was great too, he had never really clicked this well with someone. But he too had been hurt a lot by letting others in close, normally they died on him, not betrayed him as he knew she was talking about her sensei.

He knew this might be a mistake, that he might be an idiot for thinking it. But after a lifetime of just losing things that mattered, just once he wanted to gain something and keep it. So he pulled down his mask as he grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. She was about to protest, that is, until his lips met hers.

She stood there in surprise but the feel of his lips on hers pulled her in. Before she knew it she grabbed onto to him and pulled him in harder. Eventually their lungs burned for air as they pulled back as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Anko, I don't know what will happen but just so you know, I've felt the same things." Kakashi explained to her. "I know what we started wasn't meant to be anything more but, well, what if we wanted it to be something more?"

He actually felt a bit nervous telling her this, him nervous, the man that had gone on more missions that could have killed someone than anyone in his age group. Who faced powerful enemies without flinching, confessing his feelings to Anko actually made him nervous. He might have laughed if he could at the moment.

"Are you serious?" Anko asked him not sure how she felt. Some part of her that was a young woman felt excited and anxious, the ninja side of her warned her that mixing a professional relationship and a private one with another ninja could lead to heart break again. The small girl from years ago was scared that he would abandon her.

Kakashi nodded, "I'm…not sure how to go on. I mean I've never had a real relationship, everyone close to me usually has died but lately my life felt less empty with you."

Anko was still unsure at that moment. There were just so many different things her mind was thinking of. So she decided to try something else, she let her heart tell her what to do. The next moment she was kissing him again as they held each other close. She knew this could end badly, that one or both could end up hurt again but she also felt that their time together had made her life better. Feeling his pressing against her she wanted him, she wanted to lose herself in him and just forget the world around them.

Soon she found herself pressed up against a tree as Kakashi was trailing kissing along her neck, her hand scratching the back of his neck slightly as a leg hooked around his body. She knew where this was leading and honestly didn't care.

Kakashi leaned in close to her ear, "My place or yours?"

**-Konoha Hospital-**

It was getting to be sunset when Naruto finally woke up in his hospital bed, although he knew where he was when he woke up. He would know that white ceiling anywhere, after all the times he had been in a hospital. He also felt aches and pains all over his body. He thought back to that recovery mission and how it had ended. Although he was a little fuzzy on the details, he remembered hitting the water head first and the pain in his neck and spine, he remembered the fox. After that it got a bit more vague but he did remember Temari getting hurt.

That thought made his eyes snap wide open and he tried to sit up. He grunted and noticed something on his hand. He looked over and felt relief when he saw Temari fast asleep next to him. She was sitting in a chair, her hand on his but she was leaning on his bed. It couldn't be comfortable but she was sleeping peacefully. He noticed her arm in a sling and in the light he thought he noticed some slight bruising on the side of her face.

That made him angry, that she had been hurt like that. His hand held hers and she must have only been slightly sleeping as she moaned. She shifted a bit trying to get comfortable.

Naruto reached out with his other hand and ran his fingers through her hair gently. He was glad to see that she was okay. This prompted her to wake up slowly, at first she wasn't sure what was going on but she felt someone running their hand through her hair, it felt nice and she looked up to see Naruto.

"Oh thank kami you're up," Temari said sitting up in her chair. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Naruto told her at least physically he guessed he would recover. But he frowned at her as he knew their mission ended in failure. They hadn't been able to get Sasuke back and now he might be gone forever. He still couldn't understand Sasuke, why would he turn his back on everyone and everything here? He wanted to understand but he just couldn't.

Naruto may not have said anything but a part of him had looked up to Sasuke, he had been the kind of ninja he tried so hard to be growing up while at the academy. Sasuke had made it all seem easy so it pushed Naruto to train harder and harder to try and catch up. If it hadn't been for Sasuke, Naruto wasn't sure he would have pushed himself and where that would have led him he didn't know. Sure Naruto got annoyed from all the attention Sasuke had gotten but he still remembered that first day he had seen him.

He had seen Sasuke sitting alone looking out on the water by a small hill, the boy had looked so alone. Something that Naruto knew all too well, Naruto never spoke of it to anyone mainly because he felt that despite everything, under it all Sasuke had been alone in the world. It made Naruto feel like he had found someone that might understand his own pain. So he had tried so hard to get Sasuke to acknowledge him, that was the reason why he had made Sasuke his rival.

Back then, hardly anyone would acknowledge his existence and Naruto did anything to get people to notice him. But he wanted Sasuke to really acknowledge him, someone that Naruto felt could understand him would see him as an equal so then maybe they both wouldn't feel so alone in the world.

But things hadn't worked out like they had, he had tried to reach Sasuke's heart in their battle but he couldn't. He tried to get through to the other boy but he just didn't hear Naruto's words. Then when Temari had gotten hurt he had lost any control over himself.

He felt a bit empty inside from how this mission ended. So many had died and so much blood spilt over it all.

"How are the others?" Naruto wanted to change subjects to think on something different than all this. He had no idea what the others were doing, they had kept moving on forward while others had to stay behind to fight those Sound ninja.

Temari had been filled in by Sakura while she had waited for Naruto to wake up. "Kiba will be out in a week, Hinata is out but apparently is looking in on Kiba every day." Temari gave a small smile now, "Apparently Sakura thinks something might be going on between them."

"Huh, between Kiba and Hinata?" Naruto thought about it and truth was he really didn't know Hinata all that well. She was kind of strange, always stuttering and stuff. But she was nice and maybe it would mellow Kiba out some to have a girlfriend. Plus the only other person on that team was Shino and Naruto wasn't even sure what kind of girl would like all those bugs.

"I swear that girl likes to gossip almost as bad as that blonde friend of hers," Temari told him although truth was she liked gossip. Call it a guilty pleasure but it wasn't uncommon for romances to happen inside of teams. You spend all that time fighting together, being in dangerous situations where you can only trust those in your team. Things just sort of happened, although it did carry a big risk.

Given how she had been distracted by Naruto getting hurt was one such thing.

"Neji and Tenten are still recovering, he's up but stuck in bed still but she hasn't woken up yet. Apparently she lost a lot of blood and her internal injuries were bad." Temari explained getting a bit more sombre. She still remembered dominating the girl in the chunin exams but maybe that only pushed the girl to get stronger. From the injuries she heard from Sakura, it was amazing the girl was pulling through.

"Kakashi-sensei and the crazy snake lady?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto you really shouldn't call people names like that," Temari chided him. "They're both fine apparently they were the ones that carried us back."

Naruto was glad to hear that at least, it made him feel a bit better plus he shouldn't have been surprised. Kakashi was one of the best and although he didn't know Anko all that well, she did give Naruto the creeps, someone that scary had to be tough.

Looking around he noticed how late it was getting, "Hey what time is it?"

Temari looked at the clock and was surprised by the time, "Looks like it's pretty late, I doubt there are any visiting hours at the moment."

Naruto frowned, "Does this mean you got to go back to your room?"

Temari smirked as she stood up, "I'm not leaving and if anyone has a problem with that then too bad. I'm staying right here with you."

Temari gently got into Naruto's bed as she tried to find a position that they could both be in without hurting each other too much. She lay down and snuggled up to him, her head resting lightly on his shoulder. "I was scared that I would lose you, you know."

"You'll never lose me," Naruto told her as he closed his eyes feeling her with him. "Remember what I promised on our wedding day? I said I would protect you for life and I never go back on my word."

Temari smiled feeling better hearing that from him. She just wanted to stay like this forever. "I love you, you know that?"

"Yeah," Naruto smiled looking up at the ceiling. "I love you too." Although he had felt better physically and mentally in his life, having Temari there by his side made this day a little bit brighter. Even as the sun was fading Naruto watched Temari fall asleep and knew that he would be there in the morning, and for the next and the one after that. They still had a lot of years left to them and she wanted to enjoy them.

**-Sound Village, Hidden Location-**

Sasuke groaned as he felt his chest and shoulder aching, he wasn't sure how he got in the dark room or where he was. The last thing he remembered was the fight. He and Naruto had gone full out fighting, then just when he thought he had finally finished the fight, Naruto had came back with something else. Sasuke remembered the red chakra and Naruto's demonic appearance as he had attacked Tayuya. At the thought of the red haired girl he starting to think what happened to her. She had been smashed against a rock face and he had gone after Naruto with his full power.

He remembered him forming a chidori and Naruto making a rasengan, both attacks looking different as they had charged forward. He remembered piercing Naruto's chest, he had tried to aim for the heart but missed. Naruto's rasengan had hit him, but it had hit his collar bone and shoulders. That would explain the chest pain if his collar bone was broken. The two attacks had been blinding and the last thing he remembered was falling to the ground.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, all this power and it had been a damn tie. Naruto who had never been able to beat him or come close had tied him. The thought was maddening, just how much power did he have to get in order to surpass Naruto and get closer to Itachi?

"So you're awake now Sasuke-kun?" A familiar voice from the dark said. Footsteps could be heard as Kabuto walked into the more lighted area of the small medical chamber.

"You." Sasuke stated as he looked around. He could see the medical equipment and how it looked like he was in some kind of underground area. The walls were metal and bland, he saw another bed in the corner and thought he saw some red hair although he could see the face.

Kabuto smirked as he saw where Sasuke was looking and the expression on the boy's face and eyes. He had to admit, his maters plan to help seduce Sasuke to their side was very unexpected and seemed to have affected the boy more than he thought it would. "Tayuya will recover in time. I had to take out the poisoning of her system and stabilize her for travel when I came along."

"You found us and brought us here then." Sasuke said feeling strangely relieved to hear that the girl would recover.

Kabuto nodded, "Yes, I decided to check in just in case. Turns out it was a good idea, if I hadn't you both would have been captured."

Sasuke was quiet a long moment before he looked at the sound medic. "I need to be stronger."

Kabuto smiled at him, "Oh don't worry about that. Once you're back on your feet we have big plans for you. After all you want to kill a certain man correct? Well I won't go into detail, but Orochimaru-sama would like nothing better than to even a score he has with not only your brother, but the group he's with. We'll make you strong enough to take him on, but don't forget that in three years time you are to be his next vessel."

"That's the price for the power we will give you."

Sasuke thought about it, three years was a long time to get strong and he could learn a lot here. Orochimaru had many things that were forbidden, the perfect things to fight his brother with. Looking at the girl's bed, maybe there was a way to ensure that he wouldn't be the last Uchiha as well.

"One thing," Sasuke said to him locking eyes with Kabuto. "Tayuya stays with me."

Kabuto was a bit surprised but hid it well, "I think that can easily be arranged. Well I'll let you get some sleep, you may need it because when you're better we will push you to limits you didn't even know you had."

Sasuke watched the man walk softly out of the small dark room, he looked up for a moment thinking about things. Although he really didn't want to become Orochimaru's next vessel he needed the man. A plan started to form in his mind. He would get stronger, stronger then even Orochimaru and if he had to, then he would deal with the man. There was a chance that he could fail but if he struck him down in a moment of weakness…still he wasn't sure yet. He would have to take years to get stronger and also observe and learn everything about the Sannin.

If he failed he would need to ensure that the clan went on, looking at Tayuya, there was a chance with her. The girl was stubborn, loud, cursed too often but she was strong and a good ninja. Better than any of the other girls in his village. He would make her his woman and ensure his clan. Plus they had already slept together which he had to admit, had been passionate and intense. A part of him wanted more of it but it would come in time.

He lay back and closed his eyes. Sasuke now had a plan, he just needed the time but that was something he had plenty of he smirked to himself.

**Next up Chapter 39: Plans for the Future **


	39. Plans for the Future

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 39: Plans for the Future **

It had been a couple of weeks since the mission to try and retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, and Tsunade was in her office trying to get through her work for the day. So far it had been a very busy time for the village, having to rebuild from the damage not to mention trying to cover the losses they suffered from Orochimaru's plot to destroy the village took time. They had lost several ninja in his invasion and having her top genin teams out of commission wasn't helpful either. The only current top genin team still around was Asuma's team. Even that was only sometimes, given that Shikamaru was a chunin she had to assign him duties while Asuma had to go on his own missions that only a jonin could do.

She sighed as she looked at a document that was an update of her forces. At least she hadn't lost anyone in that last major mission. Still with the loss of Sasuke it meant that this village no longer held an Uchiha clan. That actually hurt the village's reputation and she knew that a few people would look elsewhere. It was amazing what simple name recognition did for simply getting job offers from various people looking for ninja to hire. Still it wasn't too much, not like the village would go under from it but given their current state, they couldn't afford any more major embarrassments.

Tsunade really wished she could just take a break for the day but it was like every time she thought it, something major came up.

"Working hard I take it," Jiraiya's sudden voice made her jump in her chair turning around to glare at him.

"Use the damn door not my window," She scolded him as he sat in her open window without a care in the world. "I don't got time for any of your funny business Jiraiya, I got a lot of work today so if this is about that movement from the women to get you banned from a fifty foot radius of the hot springs I can't help you."

"No I got-wait what was that?" Jiraiya suddenly did a double take on that bit she said. "What movement, what did I do to them?"

Tsunade glared at him like he should know why the women were getting tired of dealing with him.

"Oh right...well anyway," Jiraiya figured he should lay low for a bit and stay away from there until the women calmed down. "At any rate I came here to talk about Naruto. You know that group I've been tracking? Well I've been hearing things about them, they seem to be moving and they seem to have an interest in the jinchuriki."

Now Tsunade was more focused on what he was saying. "You mean they might be after them, including Naruto?"

Jiraiya nodded his head, "Yeah I want to keep an eye on them but also I wanted to talk to you about Naruto. While investigating this group I also thought that it would be interesting to see about training Naruto during that time. From what I can figure out I might have a few years to train him before they start to fully mobilize."

Tsunade sighed, "You're not the only one who's come to me about ideas for Naruto actually." She looked at the time from a clock on one of the walls. "And he should be here any moment now, so why don't you stick around for this."

"What do you mean someone else has their eye on Naruto?" Jiraiya didn't like the sound of that.

There was a knock on the door as Tsunade told whoever it was to enter. When Danzo walked in, Jiraiya immediately didn't like where this was going. He had never trusted or even liked Danzo, even if he had been an old teammate of their sensei, the man was the exact opposite of the Third and his teachings. He had a few ideas of what he wanted but he would have to hear what the bandaged man had to say first.

"Tsunade, I thought this meeting was just between us." Danzo asked seeing Jiraiya there.

"As it turns out he has his own idea about Naruto, so I thought it best to talk about this all together while you were here." Tsunade sat back in her chair. "Jiraiya just informed me that he wants to take Naruto on a training trip outside of the village."

"Oh, for how long?" Danzo asked listening carefully to this.

"Over two years, by then my intelligence says that's when they'll start to move fully. So I got just over two years to get the boy ready for them." Jiraiya told Danzo crossing his arms almost daring him to speak out against his idea.

Danzo seemed to consider this for a moment, "If things were different it might be a good idea, as things are, I don't think Naruto should leave."

"Why do you say that?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, wondering what the old man was planning.

"Have you forgotten that he's a symbol for our alliance?" Danzo reminded him. "We can't have him just disappear for over two years, especially not after the Uchiha defection. The public image of our village to other nations and clients isn't as strong as it was before the failed invasion. They see us as strong as we survived such a thing, but you know that we lost a few key personnel. We're trying to seem strong enough to prevent any other nation from attacking a wounded enemy."

"You also have to consider that there is a Suna delegation coming next month to talk about the mutual alliance as well as the possibility of joint missions and patrols of our borders." Danzo looked to Tsunade now to address her directly. "Naruto will be expected to at least be seen with Temari during this time to help ensure that we're holding up our end of the deal in good faith."

Tsunade leaned forward as she started to think long and hard about this. Naruto could use the extra training but the damn political and economic situation was making it harder for Naruto to leave for that long a period. Plus without him Team 7 would be down to two genin only, there would be no way to have Team 7 going on missions. Which wouldn't be fair to Sakura or Temari plus if Suna thought she was holding Temari back it could get ugly for her, as she knew there were still some sore feelings of a few powerful people in Suna.

There were hard feelings from the generation from before the Third Shinobi War still in Suna and something like that would be too good to drum up support to break the alliance.

Sakura was training to be a medic so if it was just her, well Tsunade could have worked something out.

Damn she wanted a drink badly at this moment.

"Look, I don't care about politics, never did really. One of the reasons I didn't want the job of Hokage." Jiraiya spoke up. "But Naruto has a lot of potential and I can't stay here the entire time to train him. Plus we were already infiltrated once already by Itachi Uchiha and his partner."

"The same ones that you defeated," Danzo said back to him. "So if you stayed wouldn't you be able to protect the boy, or are you saying that you can't guarantee success again if they show up?"

Jiraiya knew he was being baited but for what he wasn't sure, he hated politics, especially since he was no good with this kind of stuff. Danzo however was a master at this kind of thing so he kept his mouth shut while he tried to think of a way around it.

Danzo didn't give him any time, "Well if you feel that the boy needs training so much and to be protected. I think I should train the boy then, ANBU can also be placed t guard him. In fact I think we should think about Temari as well. She has a lot of potential and what if they go after her to get at him?"

Jiraiya hadn't considered that, most people who were joined with a demon beast either had no real family, weren't close to their family or those that were close, usually could take care of themselves. If he did get Naruto he might have to take the girl as well, which he doubted they would let him do. Taking both of them off the grid for two years, even he could see how bad politically that could be.

"I think we should let Naruto choose," Tsunade told both men. "You both make points so we'll have Naruto and Temari come here and ask them what they want."

Jiraiya and Danzo looked at each other before nodding to Tsunade.

**-Konoha Streets-**

"Guys is this really necessary?" Tenten asked again. She was surrounded by her teammates which wasn't normally a bad thing. She had just finally gotten out of the hospital and her team was here to see her off. Not that she really needed it, she did get a full clean bill of health after all. Although Lee and Gai were just being a bit too enthused about her recovery.

"But Tenten, you were in there for so long," Lee said to the girl. "You must not get rusty in your skills."

"I was in there for so long because I got impaled by a large indestructible arrow," Tenten told him getting slightly impatient. "They told me two or more inches and my spine would have been severed and I might have ended up without the use of my legs permanently."

Although with chakra medicine many injuries could be healed, tissue could be made to regrow in some cases and even some nerves. But a severed spine was something that even the legendary skills of Tsunade might not have been able to help with. The thought of not being a ninja anymore, let alone confined to a wheelchair or crutches for life was scary to her.

"You just got out of recovery yourself Lee," Tenten shot back at him.

"Yes and I have been training every day to ensure that I make up for any lost time. I need to become much stronger if I want to go further as a ninja." Lee proclaimed.

"That's the spirit Lee," Gai smiled at his young protégé. "Never give up and push yourself beyond your limits. That's how I got to where I am today and I know you all can achieve great things."

"You were also told to keep it easy by the Hokage," Neji told Lee as he put his own opinion in. "You don't want to reinjure yourself and go back into the hospital. Plus I don't think she would take too kindly to you ending up back there after your operation."

"But how am I supposed to get stronger?" Lee asked his friend and sometimes rival. "I still haven't completed my goals in life in beating you, Naruto-kun or being a strong ninja in only taijutsu."

"You still have years left in you Lee," Tenten sighed. "You have plenty of time and besides I'm still sore in the stomach so I can't train. I'm not going to make this any worse and I was told not to train for two weeks, no missions above D rank either."

Although Tenten would agree to that, she still felt a bit bored. D ranked missions were okay, well, for the most part. But with no real action or training she felt like she might go nuts with boredom. It would be a slow two weeks. She stopped seeing a weapons store, she had lost some of her weapons and she had gotten combat pay for the last mission as it was for the village. Her hands itched to take a look at them all and maybe find a few new weapons for herself.

Some said she had a compulsion with weapons but she just really liked them. They called to her and she could master any weapon in her hands easily. The downside was just how expensive it cost to get them all and replenish her supplies when she used them up.

"You know, why don't you go on ahead, I want to look in here for some supplies." Tenten said to her team. Maybe she could at least get some peace and quiet with Lee and Gai not around. Neji was always quiet so she didn't mind his presence. Plus he had been a little off lately; she swore that he was looking at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Almost like he was considering or thinking about something.

"But as your team we should stick together and look after you." Gai told her. "Since you're not up to training and were told to take it easy and if you insist on that, then we should help you out as a team."

Tenten sighed knowing that if they stuck around her for two whole weeks that would drive her nuts first. She loved her team but she still needed some quiet time now and then. Lee and Gai would get bored easy with nothing to do and would start to find things to pass the time. That was a dangerous combination no matter what happened.

Neji cleared his throat, "We don't all need to be here. Since you both are so dead set on training why don't you both train together. I can look after Tenten by myself. This way Lee can get in his training, even if he was told to take it easy, and we're still making sure that Tenten is taking it easy as well."

Gai seemed to be thinking this over, it would allow them to maximize their time and Lee was just so eager to learn more. Not only that but a part of him wanted to see where Lee was after the operation and find out just what the boy's limits were. He was told by Tsunade that Lee was never to use the Lotus moves again, so he had to figure out a way around that.

"That is a most excellent idea Neji!" Lee was nearly jumping at the chance to go train with Gai one-on-one.

"Well if you think so, then maybe we can do it that way," Gai said coming to a decision. "So you look after Tenten and I look after Lee then."

Tenten wasn't sure what happened but eventually Lee and their sensei went off to train leaving her with Neji. "You know I can walk home and shop by myself you know." She told him when they entered the shop.

"I know but you seemed to want some space from those two, plus if you end up buying some of the heavier weapons you still might need some help. You said yourself that you're still a little sore."

Tenten thought about it, she hadn't thought about what she would buy; sometimes she got something on impulse. So if she needed some help it might be nice to have an extra pair of hands. Plus Neji wasn't going to be as disruptive as the other two thankfully. So she went to look around, she found a few replacements and even a couple new weapons for herself.

Turns out that Neji had been right, she ended up with two bags of weapons and when she tried to lift both, her stomach seemed to take offence. So she carried one bag and Neji the other as he walked her home for the day. It was a nice day out and Neji was nice and quiet company for the moment as well.

"Tenten," Neji said suddenly nearly making the girl jump in surprise. "There's something that I've been wondering about.

Tenten blinked, she knew that there had been something on his mind lately. "Okay what is it?"

"What did you mean that you were glad it was me there with you when you lose consciousness?"

It took her a moment to remember saying that to him; she had been wounded and thought that she might have been dying. In fact she had hoped earlier that had just been a dream she had. She blushed as she tried to think of something to say. Truth was, in that moment she had been glad that Neji had been there holding her.

It had felt so good to have been in his arms, maybe more so than she should have been. She had spent her time recovering remembering that moment and the emotions linked to it. She remembered coming to the conclusion that she might actually like him. That wasn't a bad thing really he was really good looking, mature, and serious about his career plus he treated her like any other ninja, not as just a girl.

She hated being treated weaker because of her sex.

But he was on her team and that might complicate things, okay sure, Temari and Naruto seemed to make it work at least. But they actually cared for each other surely Neji didn't see her as anything than just a teammate.

"Well...it's just that..." Tenten cursed herself, all that time she should have came up with something to say if he ever asked, but she never considered he would.

Neji could see her blushing and she had never really stammered like this before. He had been thinking long and hard the past two weeks. About what she had said and he was unsure how he felt, for as long as he remembered he had been angry with the world, mainly with the main branch. But with that gone, he had other goals in his life now. He never thought about girls or relationships but lately he had started. Maybe a near death experience with Tenten had opened his eyes to something he hadn't seen before.

"If you're not comfortable saying anything you don't need to," He told her. He wasn't sure if either of them were ready to admit what they might feel. Or even knew what they were feeling exactly. But there was one thing that he felt that he needed to say to her. "Just so you know...I would have no one else by my side than you."

Tenten's eyes widened a bit as the blush increased a bit. She then smiled at him, "I...I feel the same way."

He gave a small smile to her and a nod as they walked on together. Both feeling things neither of them had experience in their short lives, but it was a nice warm feeling for them. Tenten wasn't sure if this was a good sign but she felt nicer after hearing that from him. Their hands brushed against each other making both blush slightly at the contact. Tenten felt her heart beating faster as she wondered what would happen if she took a chance.

Eventually she decided to try to take a chance, if anything, nearly dying made her think just how much life meant. She had been ready to die and when she woke up in the hospital knowing everyone else had pulled through made her feel so happy. So in the spirit of this, she decided that the next time they're hands were close she took his hand in hers.

She blushed bright red while not looking at him; she could see him look at her sharply most likely surprised by it. But he didn't let go, she smiled at that, Neji wasn't really the kind of guy that actions spoke more than words sometimes. The fact he didn't try to pull away spoke volumes to her.

Neji was surprised but he did hold it gently in his hand, her hand seemed so slim and smooth in his hand. It felt like it kind of fit for some reason as well. He wasn't sure why he held on but he did anyway. Maybe it was the first step in something new, or maybe this would be the only time. He wasn't sure but he was enjoying the moment, so he didn't bother thinking about tomorrow, only about today.

**-Tsunade's Office-**

Temari and Naruto got up to Tsunade's door, Naruto was about to just walk in before being stopped by Temari. She knocked first and waited for Tsunade's response, she made a mental note to help Naruto with his patience and protocol at some point. When they heard Tsunade's voice calling them in they walked in. There sitting at her desk was Tsunade and also Jiraiya and Danzo both standing on either side of her. She could already feel the emotions in the room and something was going on.

"Hey what's going on here?" Naruto asked looking around. Although even he could tell something was up he wasn't sure why the bandaged guy was here. He remembered him from his wedding, Danzo something he thought. The guy was always wrapped up, making him wonder what was under the bandages. Maybe he was really messed up or something, like burns or scars all over his body. He was a bit curious to find out but a few mental images of an old man in burn scars quickly put that idea away.

Temari was a bit weary of what was going on, she didn't like the feel of the room.

"I have something important to talk to you both about," Tsunade said leaning forward on her desk. "It involved your future for the next few years."

"What are you getting at Baa-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"Basically Jiraiya got some intelligence on this group Akatsuki," Tsunade went into the whole explanation of why they were here. She told them exactly what Jiraiya told her about the group and that they were after people like Naruto. This didn't make the two young ninja feel any better knowing there was a group made up of some of the most powerful rogue ninja. One was being Itachi Uchiha himself whose name was infamous in their village.

Then they got to what the meeting was really about, the choice they would make. Jiraiya offered to train Naruto while wondering the lands for over two years, gathering what information he could while training Naruto. Danzo gave his side of things and told how he would be able to train both of them and ensure their safety. Each side had their merits and failings.

"So these are our only choices?" Temari asked when they were done filling them in on everything. She didn't like the choices they were presented with.

Naruto didn't like them much either, he felt he was forced into yet another situation, although to be fair the last one did work out well for himself. "Look why can't I take Temari-chan with me?"

"Well I would be willing but I don't know much about wind style jutsus that I could teach her to be honest," Jiraiya admitted to them. "I'm sure there is still plenty I could teach you both, things I bet you never thought of before. There is more to being a ninja after all then just ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu. There are tons of tricks and skills I can teach, plus with taijutsu I can teach you both in that as well."

Naruto lit up at the thought of training with the old man again, sure he was very unorthodox but he did get results.

Temari wasn't as impressed. "If I do go along you realize you won't be slacking off like you usually do." She told Jiraiya.

"What do you mean by that?" The Sannin said slightly offended by what she said to him.

"I mean no more of your 'research', you'll be working non-stop for all this time." Temari said seriously. She had heard the stories that Naruto told her about his training with him. She didn't like the way this guy taught. "You won't just show us something then take off for a few days letting us try and figure it out. If you train us it will be done properly."

She crossed her arms daring him to say anything against it. "I want Naruto to have the best training and I'm going to make sure of it. If I find out just once that you went off for 'research', drinking, or going to those hostess bars or anything like that. I'm taking Naruto straight back here while you're gone."

Jiraiya paled at the thought of pure work for so long, he couldn't remember the last time he worked so hard for so long a period. Plus he really did need to do work on finding more information on the Akatsuki too. Plus he knew that the girl was deadly serious.

"I don't suppose we could work something out?" He hoped.

"Depends," She said evenly. "Are you going to throw us off any cliffs?"

"You told her about that?" Jiraiya comically yelled at Naruto.

"You never told me not to say thing about that! Plus you did do that to me!" Naruto shouted back.

"You did what to Naruto!" Tsunade barked out glaring daggers at her old team member as he shrunk back fearing a blow to the face if she got any reach on him.

"Then perhaps it would be better for them to stay in the village," Danzo said calmly liking where this was going. If he could get them to train under him it would give him time to mould and shape the two of them. They were key people for the future of the village and would make for great allies if he could slowly convince them of his way of thinking.

Both Temari and Naruto didn't feel all too comfortable with that idea either. This went back and forth for an hour, someone would come up with an idea, and someone else would try and point out the flaws in it. It seemed like they couldn't agree on anything that is until a compromise was finally reached by Tsunade.

"Look seeing that Naruto will be needed for the village at certain times, plus his ninja career can't be put on hold the entire time, at least not with this marriage, and he needs to train under you for certain reasons. " Tsunade knew that Jiraiya planned to train Naruto in the use of the Kyuubi, that hadn't came out but she knew that it would be dangerous to try that in the village. Plus there were other things that the man could teach Naruto.

"So here's the proposal," Tsunade looked at everyone in the room. "Jiraiya will take Naruto but only for certain times when he's in the area. He'll train Naruto for a month or two at a time, and he can continue to do missions for Team 7 as well. This way he will still be seen in the village but not knowing where he is and for how long will make it harder to track him."

"He'll have the security of the village while here and Jiraiya can keep him hidden for the training." She could see that no one really liked this idea. Jiraiya had his heart set on a full two years but this was better than nothing. And he knew it would force him to cram as much in as possible.

Temari wouldn't like not going with him but she would still be needed here, plus with both of them suddenly gone it would make a few in Suna nervous. She could continue to train and do missions the entire time without interruption. Although she would miss Naruto when he was gone.

Danzo was the least happy, but he could at least try to get them to consider either some training or help from him while they were here. It would be a lot harder but thankfully his plans for the future of this village didn't hinge on them.

Naruto, well he liked and hated it, he liked that he would learn a lot from Jiraiya but hated leaving Temari behind. With things finally decided everyone broke off the day, Tsunade slumped in her chair when everyone was gone. She pulled a drawer out to take some sake, she really needed a drink after all of that.

Later that day both Naruto and Temari were sitting on the couch of their living room, both resting against each other and holding hands. Neither of them was sure what to say, but they had come to a decision that would affect their future for the next few years. Temari was the first to speak up.

"I'm going to miss you when you're gone with that man for a month or more." She sighed.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah same here. It's strange, I've lived alone most of my life but since we started living together, well, I got really used to it and actually like it. It's going to be weird when I wake up and you're not there or seeing you at breakfast, training together and stuff."

"Well with luck you'll be back for the next chunin exams, I hear Suna is holding it so we can see my brothers while we're there." Temari offered.

"Oh yeah that will be great!" Naruto had never really been to Suna himself so he was looking forward to it. He had heard the stories and seen some pictures but other than that he wanted look around it and see how the village was different. "It will be nice to see Gaara and Make-up guy too."

Temari rolled her eyes, "You know you'll have to call him by name soon, he is you're brother-in-law."

"Yeah I know but I thought family is supposed to tease each other?" He honestly asked.

"I guess..." She honestly didn't know as her family was anything but normal. She had never really been the teasing type as she was the oldest and with Gaara, well you didn't tease Gaara, at least not back then.

Still, she didn't like the fact that she wouldn't see him for so long but it was better than not seeing him for over two years. That would drive her mad with worry knowing there were those after him. "Well we got a month before that happens, so what do you say we make the most of it?"

"Oh yeah, I think I can get one of those wind jutsus down by then!" Naruto's face lit up at that.

Temari sweat dropped, she should have known that training was the first thing on his mind. Well second thing, she bed ramen wouldn't be too far behind.

"Oh man I better made sure I eat ramen from Ichiraku on the day I leave, maybe if I ask nicely they'll let me take some to go too."

Temari couldn't help but laugh, she had only known him only a little bit and she knew him pretty well. He just looked at her confused wondering what she found so funny. He hated being left out of the joke. Temari quickly got control of herself as she thought how she would miss him even more at this point. He could make her have fun and laugh like no one else, even when it wasn't on purpose.

"How about another idea?" Temari asked him.

"Like what?" Naruto thought about it.

Temari wrapped her arms around him as she pulled him close as she kissed him Naruto quickly got the idea as he kissed her back. He liked how soft her lips were when they kissed and the taste as well. He kept meaning to find out how she got her lips to taste like peaches. If only she could taste like ramen then it would be perfect but this was still great.

If he was going to leave in a month then he really needed to make some time for himself and Temari. Kissing her made him aware of just how much he was going to miss her and being able to do things like this with his wife.

**Chapter 40: Epilogue**

**Well the final chapter is up next, can't believe I've been at this story for so long but it's time to say goodbye. I left the story open ended for a reason and a few plots set in motion from previous chapters as well. If I ever want to make a sequel to this story I now have plenty of room for one.**


	40. Epilogue

**Political Alliances**

**Chapter 40: Epilogue**

Temari felt the sun on her face as she turned over in her bed, part of her wanted to go back to sleep. She reached out and felt the empty place next to her and sighed. Naruto wasn't here, he hadn't been here for nearly four weeks as he was off again training with Jiraiya. It had been over two years since that meeting in the Hokage's office and every time he went she missed him. She would start to focus on work, training anything to get stronger and push herself. Mainly because when she got home it felt so empty without him.

Now that she was awake she sighed and decided to get up. Normally Naruto would have been back sooner, he was overdue to be back. Something that happened from time to time but he was only supposed to be gone for three weeks, not four. She hated it when he was late in getting back more than when he left because she had no idea what was going on or why they were late. She pushed her thoughts out of her head as she got herself ready for the day.

Temari washed, dressed and ate alone as she took some time to clean up a bit. There wasn't much to clean up, since with Naruto gone she always kept things neat. It was a constant struggle to remind him to clean up after himself. He wasn't as bad as he used to be, but she still found clothing or items left forgotten. She wouldn't pick it up, she would just go in search of him and make him do it. He was not a child and she was his wife not his mother. Although she never said such a thing to his face, knowing full well he never knew his mother but still it was one of the annoyances she learned to live with.

Looking around she could see all the little things that had made this her new home. There were pictures of their lives over the past few years hanging up or on display. She smiled looking at one of Team 7 in Suna. That was during their chunin exams and the one next to it had Temari, Naruto and Sakura in chunin jackets smiling at the camera. That had been a fun time, of course their team went through the exam and they all passed. A few other teams passed as well but it had been nice to be back in Suna.

She remembered showing them around, not to mention hanging out with her brothers and even Matsuri the girl that had replaced her. Even back then she could have seen that the girl was crushing hard on Gaara. A year ago she had gotten letter from Matsuri actually, she liked the younger girl and she had poured her heart out asking how she could get Gaara to notice her. So she had given her some advice. She heard that she had confessed to him and Gaara and the girl were going out.

It was still a shock how much her little brother had changed so much. He was a lot more calm and open now, sure he was still a bit stonic but he was a lot more welcoming presence about him. She smirked remembering when they got the news of him being made the Kazekage. Naruto and her had gone off to congratulate him as soon as they could. Naruto proclaiming he wasn't going to lose to Gaara and would make Hokage soon.

She looked through a few more items, one was her old Suna headband in a glass case proudly displayed on the wall. Then there was this painting of Suna, it was actually of her favourite spot where the sun sets just right. The image captured it as well. Naruto had gotten for her while on a training trip with Jiraiya. He had stopped in Suna for a bit, tracked down a good artist and had him paint it for her. It was a thoughtful gift on their second anniversary and she loved it. She remembered how he had forgotten their first anniversary, she hadn't spoken to him for a full week after that. It actually had been one of the worst moments in their marriage.

But eventually he managed to make up for it and she got over it eventually. Although she suspected Sakura had kept reminding him about important dates from this point on just in case.

Temari sighed as she went to the door and was going to check in on Sakura, Temari had an appointment anyway to keep with the medic.

Temari traveled through the village with a slight smile. This village had become her second home now, although Suna would always be in her heart she had grown to love this village as well. The people, who at first had been a bit weary of her, had grown to trust and respect her and Naruto. It was a nice feeling and it showed that people could change for the better at times.

**-Later-**

Temari and Sakura were now walking together to the front gate as she had to get the morning visiting log. Temari decided to keep her company. Besides they had nothing else planned and it was nice just to hang out. It wasn't long before they saw Tenten talking to a very moody Neji.

"Hey guys, what's with him?" Sakura pointed to Neji.

"He's just sulking," Tenten smirked as he seemed to take offence of her choice of words.

"Do we want to know why?" Temari asked although she was kind of wondering herself. Over the years she and Tenten had started to have friendly sparing matches from time to time. Mainly Tenten said she wanted to overcome her weakness she was shown in her first chunin exams. The girl had gotten a lot better but Temari was proud that she still came out on top most of the time.

Tenten giggled, "Turns out Kiba actually asked Hinata out yesterday."

"You're kidding?" Sakura said shocked at that. "Those two have been dancing around the topic for like two years. So Kiba broke down first huh?" She smirked at that, she had a running bet with Ino on who would ask out who first. Unlike her master, it would seem that Sakura was a better gambler, not that it was hard to be a better gambler than 'the legendary sucker' was. She couldn't wait to shove this in Ino's face and get the money.

"He doesn't deserve her." Neji finally spoke up darkly. He had never really approved of it when he found out that both of them might like each other. Hinata was his cousin, almost like a sister to him now, and he was a bit of an 'overprotective' side to him lately. Some thought it was his way of making up for his earlier actions in life when he was younger and full of anger at the main branch.

Tenten elbowed him in the ribs, "Oh please if she didn't like him she would have said no to his offer. Besides you know he wouldn't do anything, he's smart enough to not piss off both her father and his mother if he did anything inappropriate."

"He better not even think such things," Neji told her while wondering if he should follow at a distance. He could always keep his eyes on them from where they wouldn't see him.

Temari and Sakura couldn't help smiling at the sight, Neji was usually very calm and reserved with the exception of when it came to either family or Tenten. The two of them had been dating steadily for over a year now. At first it had been a little rocky but they had eventually gotten into a nice relationship between them. Temari and Sakura said their goodbyes leaving Tenten to deal with her boyfriend's overprotective nature.

"Wow…seems like everyone is hooking up," Sakura sighed a little envious. "I mean there's you and Naruto for starters…although that technically wasn't your choice."

"No but it worked out for us," Temari stated with a nod. "I'm not sure who else I would have wanted really. He certainly makes life more fun."

"Among other things," Sakura smiled knowing Naruto well enough to know the kinds of things he got into. "I swear the village always seems dull when he leaves. Oh yeah did you hear about Anko and Kakashi-sensei?"

"He didn't propose finally did he?" It was a long standing joke among Team 7 to tease their sensei about his now open relationship with Anko. It had shocked a lot of people the day they had been seen walking through the streets arm in arm. Then when asked and they admitted to being a real couple, well it was a surprise. Gai actually challenged Kakashi that he himself would get a girlfriend not wanting to lose in love to his rival. The man was still searching sadly, if only he wasn't so energetic he might actually not scare off so many women.

"No he didn't, I'm not sure they ever will marry, they just seem happy enough as they are," Sakura pointed out. "No I heard they're actually moving into together, something about that they are at each other's places all the time so why not just have all their stuff in one spot?"

"I don't know why but that sounds like them," Temari shook her head, those two had never been the conventional couple to start with. "Speaking of couples is Lee still trying to get a date with you."

Sakura had the good decency to blush, "Yes, he's as bad as Naruto was, now that he's married to you and…well no one else is in my life he thinks he's got a chance." She didn't say Sasuke's name anymore, she just couldn't really bring herself to say it. The boy had not only crushed her heart but had harmed her friends, teammates and betrayed them all.

"But I'm just more focused on my career now," Sakura told the older girl. "I spent a lot of years wasting my training because I chased after a boy. So I just want to focus on me, I want to find out who I really am and see what I can do with my life for a bit longer. I mean you already made jonin and you're only eighteen. So maybe later I'll look into a relationship but I'm just not ready yet."

Temari nodded as it made sense to her there was nothing wrong with focusing on your career. "sounds like a plan, although for a moment I thought it was that cute young medic that I've seen you talking to."

Sakura blushed at the mention of him, "H-he's just new, I mean he only just got his medical ninja exam finished and asks for pointers from me. I have trained under Tsunade-sama personally and have mastered a lot of medical jutsus. There's nothing wrong with someone having a healthy attitude for learning more. I am his sempai after all so I should act like a good one."

"Uh-huh," Temari smirked. She had seen this medic talking to Sakura a few times and the boy was a year younger but a decent looking guy. It was obvious he might be smitten over Sakura as well. But she put that aside, besides it would be fun to watch Lee's reaction to when he found out he might have a rival for Sakura later on. But all this talk on relationships just made her miss Naruto more, when in the hell was he?

"So…are you going to tell him?" Sakura asked her. "You know, when he finally gets back?"

Temari sighed, "Of course, I just don't know when. Thankfully I've gotten used to the idea by now also thanks for keeping it quiet."

Sakura nodded, "Sure you wanted to be the one to tell him anyway, although I did have to tell Tsuande and Shizune because of the medical rules involved."

Temari knew although she didn't like it but she had accepted it by now.

**-Outside the village-**

Jiraiya was walking back home with his young apprentice, who of course was nearly bouncing with excitement. He always got like this when they were returning back to Konoha, not that he didn't understand his reasoning. The young boy had grown into a young man, although he still wore a bit more orange than he felt was necessary. At least Jiraiya had persuaded him to put some black onto his new clothes. The green chunin vest might need some repair as well, after this last bit of training it might need to be replaced.

"Calm down we're almost back," He chuckled at him. "I know you miss you're lovely wife but you can wait a bit longer before taking her back into the bedroom."

"That's not the reason Ero-sennin!" Naruto shouted at the man blushing a bit.

"Oh please like I don't know that every time you leave or when you get back, you two eventually end up there. Either as a way to say 'goodbye' or 'welcome home' to each other." He saw his student's face go all red and just laughed. Even after all this time the boy just couldn't hide certain facts about his life and was still a little 'innocent' in some ways.

"How the hell do you know that?" Naruto demanded. "If you're peeking on us I'll tell Temari!"

Jiraiya paled at that, that girl was nearly as scary as Tsunade when angry. She was glad that Tsunade was training Sakura and not that girl. He might actually die if that was the case. "Look it's easy enough to figure out, plus you two are young and the marriage is still fresh. I know if I was in your place I would-"

"I don't want to know!" Naruto covered his ears before he got any mental images that he might not like to carry around with him for life. But it was something he looked forward to, Temari had become a major part of his life. He loved waking up next to her, the time they spent together, even when he did something he wasn't supposed to and she got angry.

Plus she was kind of cute when she was angry he thought to himself with a smirk. Finally in what seemed like forever the large wall and gates of the village were seen. Jiraiya could see just how eager the boy was. Jiraiya couldn't help but marvel at how he looked so much like his father and yet acted so much like his mother. Soon the boy would be able to stand on his own, and then finally Jiraiya planned on telling him everything about his parents. It was a bit cruel to not tell him and he wanted to, but everyone that knew, also knew that his father had lots of old enemies that might not let old grudges go.

"Go on then I can get there by myself," Jiraiya told him.

"Thanks!" Was the only word out of Naruto's mouth as he ran home. He made it to the front gate in record time, passing the guards with a small hello as he ran past them. It was a normal sight for anyone at this point. Naruto jumped over the rooftops looking for Temari, he wanted to make sure he didn't miss her in case she wasn't at home. Then seeing a blonde with familiar hair and black dress with a pink haired girl in red on the streets below he knew he found her.

Naruto quickly jumped down behind them, silently stalking them as the two talked. He had learned how to be very sneaky at a young age. He crept up behind his wife and suddenly grabbed her by her waist lifting her up.

"I'm home!" Naruto yelled out lifting her up.

"Kya!" Temari let out suddenly as she looked behind her, half scowling for making her sound so girly and half smiling for him being home. You'd think after all the years she would be used to his surprises but if there was one thing she learned, was that Naruto would always surprise you.

"Where were you?" She demanded smiling now as he let her down and hugged her close. "I was getting worried."

"Sorry, the normal way back had a rockslide so we had to take a detour," Naruto explained slowly pulling back for her, although he wanted to keep her close.

"Well I'm glad you're back then," Temari smiled looking at him. In the years he had become very handsome and even taller. At first she had been taller and how he had a few inches on her, she actually liked that bit. The baby fat was gone and now stood a very lovable and good looking husband. Oh yes things had worked out very well for her.

Sakura smiled at the scene, the hopeless romantic in her loved seeing the two together like this. You could just see the love between them and it only got more intense over the years. Either from getting used to the affection or just getting used to each other, maybe it was a bit of both.

"Well it's nice to have you back," Sakura told him. "I got to get the visitor's log, so why don't you two catch up and I'll tell Tsunade-sama that you're back."

"Sure thanks Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned at his close friend.

Temari was thankful for this, most likely Sakura was giving her time to talk to Naruto but not yet. First she wanted to have a few moments with her husband. She linked her arms in his as she headed back to their home. "So then, shall we?"

Naruto's grin only got bigger.

_**-lemon-**_

They had barely closed the front door before they were locked in each other's arms, their lips hungrily searching for each other. It always felt like forever when they were apart but when they got back together, they always tried to make up for lost time. She unzipped his chunin jacket and threw it over the couch on their way upstairs. Usually she was a stickler for where clothing went but times like these were the exception.

Naruto's hands caressed her back feeling the strong form under her black dress. They went lower as he grabbed her well toned ass in his hands. He gave her a little squeeze as she moaned into his mouth in pleasure. Her hands unzipped the shirt and then felt the strong muscles under it. He had trained a lot with both her and Jiraiya over the years and it was starting to show on him. By the time they made it to the stairs he quickly picked her up bridal style and carried her up to their room.

"You know I can walk." She told him kissing his neck.

"I know but I like doing this," He grinned feeling her hot breath on his neck was very distracting.

When they made it to their room she slipped off his orange and black jacket and cast it to the floor as he undid the red sash around her waist. He pulled open her dress to show him her black bra and panties. That made him wonder as she normally had on ninja mesh armour like himself under her clothing. But he shrugged it off, he was too busy looking at her body to really think on it. She pulled off his shirts seeing the now bare muscular chest with the Hokage's necklace there.

Kicking off their shoes they continued to kiss and fondle the other, Naruto slipped off her dress as it fell to the floor as she worked on his pants. The two young married couple then proceeded to enjoy their reunion. Over the years they got to know each other's need very well and were well versed in how to pleasure to the other.

After some time and effort both young lovers took a moment to breath after they had finished. It was always like this when they reunited. It always made this moment more passionate. Naruto smiled up at the ceiling, it was good to be home again he thought to himself. He could hear Temari's breathing slowly going back down to normal. For Temari she wished she could just enjoy the moment but there was something important she had to tell him. She had been so caught up in him being home again that she had gone with her passions first.

Not that it was a bad thing, in the years they had learned each other's bodies very well and usually this was just the first round before a break and then things would heat up again. But before that she needed to talk to him.

"Man I can't wait to go on missions again, hey you think Tsunade-baachan will have one ready for us?" Naruto asked his wife eagerly.

It was now or never, she figured. Maybe it was best to work her way up to it. "Well maybe but there's something I have to tell you. I'm on medical leave now. I'm off the active roster so I can't go on anymore missions."

"What!" Naruto shot up straight in bed his face filled with worry. "Is something wrong?"

"No not really," Temari sighed. "You know how in our marriage is originally political we were supposed to have kids at some point?" He nodded his head remembering that. They had talked about it as lately they were getting some pressure from a few of the more impatient members holding a political passion in either Suna or Konoha.

"Well, looks like we don't have to worry about it anymore." She told him.

"Why not?"

As much as she loved him he really was a little slow in some areas. "Remember before you left and we were in kind of a hurry to say our usual 'goodbye' to each other?"

He blushed a bit remembering that, "Yeah I do."

"I…forgot to take the usual precautions," She admitted the fault was hers looking back on it she should have been smarter. Stupid teenaged hormones strike again apparently. She could see his mind starting to make the connections so she gave him one final clue. She took his hand and placed it on her stomach as his eyes bulged out.

"Y-you mean…" He looked at where they're hands were.

"Yeah, you're going to be a dad in about nine months or so." Temari hadn't been sure on his reaction on this. He knew that he always wanted to be part of a family of his own, now he was going to start his own. She was a little scared herself, she hardly remembered her own mother and the less said about her father the better. Both hadn't had anything in the way or good parents to draw on how to be good parents.

After a few minutes of him being so unnaturally quiet was starting to get to her. "Naruto, say something!"

He soon broke out into the largest smile she had ever seen. He jumped up on the bed raising his hands up in the air. "I'm going to be a dad! Yahooo!"

She felt relieved that he took it so well.

"I can't wait to tell everyone!" Naruto had never really been this happy before in his life. He couldn't wait to see if he was going to have a son or daughter, not that it mattered but there was just so much he wanted to do. The realities hadn't hit him yet, he was too focused on the fact that he would have a family. He had promised himself years ago that when he and Temari had kids he would be the best dad he could be. Now that he was going to be a father, he wanted to go right up to the head of the Fourth and yell it out to the whole village.

"Why wait? I'm going to tell everyone now!" He jumped off the bed running for the door.

"Naruto!" Temari yelled out in shock. "Put some pants on at least!" She scrambled up hoping to catch him before he left the house naked. She prayed that their children wouldn't take after their father's energetic nature too much or else they were going to have their hands full within a few years.

**-Hidden Sound Base-**

Sasuke was sitting on a bed in the room he currently was using, there wasn't much in the way of personal items given that he moved around to various bases of Orochimaru's over the years. But although his life was different he had grown much stronger over time. He knew that he was close to being on his brother's level, that soon finally after all these years, all the sacrifices would be worth it. He could finally kill his brother and be free of him. There would be no more nightmares of his brother standing over the bloodied bodies of his clan mocking him with his cold expression.

With that done he could set about rebuilding his clan and start to restore it to its former glory. It would take generations but he had to start somewhere. There was a catch though; the time was slowly starting for Orochimaru to take a new host. This was something that he had been preparing for years to do. In fact he had been training and planning to avoid being Orochimaru's new vessel. He never planned on actually going through with it, he was just using Orochimaru like the man was using him.

It was just a matter of who defeated who first. For years he had been secretly studying the man's jutsus, strengths and weaknesses and there was a fatal flaw in the snake sannin's plans. Although Sasuke wasn't totally sure he was fairly reasonable that he could defeat him when he came to collect his new body. He would be weak at that point and his ego would think that he couldn't be beaten. Well Sasuke was going to show him just how vulnerable he really was.

"Fuck what time is it?" Came the annoyed voice of his bed mate.

"It's early you should get some rest." He said to her.

"I would but someone decided to kick me in the bladder," Tayuya sighed as she got up slightly. She placed a hand on her large stomach, obviously heavy with child. For the past few years they had been together and although never official they were together. They trained, fought and slept in the same room for the past few years. Being pregnant was one of the side effects of some of the activities they ended up doing together in bed.

She was only a month away from giving birth and it soured her mood. She had aches and pains, had to pee way too often and the little one kept kicking at odd times. But looking at her belly she couldn't help but feel love for the child. This was her child, her and Sasuke's and she knew the child would be great. One of the reasons she choose to have his child was because a part of her was scared. Scared that when Orochimaru came for him she would lose him forever, in a way, this was her way of giving him something he wanted. His clan to live on but also for her to keep a part of him alive in case the worst happened.

In the past few years they had grown to care for the other deeply, so deeply that when he came to her with his plan to deal with Orochimaru she didn't hesitate to stand with him. It was funny, before she would have died for her leader but now she was getting ready to betray him for the father of her child.

Sasuke placed his hand on her stomach and a small smile grew on his face, ever since he learned he would have a child a part of him was looking forward to it. He would start his clan with his child and raise a mighty ninja. He felt a kick and grinned, yes the child would be great he could feel it. "Soon our child will be born."

"And I can't fucking wait for it," Tayuya said to him. "You'd think with all the experiments Orochimaru has done on people there would be a way to make the father carry the child for a bit." She was silent a moment before voicing her worry. "It's almost time for him to come for you."

"I know and I'm ready for him," Sasuke looked up at her cupping her cheek. "Are you with me?"

"Fucking right I am," She told him her eyes steeled. "Although I have to say, when you finish him you sure you want to keep to the plan? We could always just run, a lot of people won't be happy with us, Kabuto especially."

"He'll live with it or else," Sasuke told her. "I plan on taking Sound for my own, our child will need an army and a country, so why not Orochimaru's? Everyone knows I'm his apprentice and I also have selected those that will stand with me."

She grinned at him, "Well if you are going to do this at least can we make a base above ground for once? These tunnels suck and I'm sick of always being in the dark."

Sasuke gave a small grunt of a laugh, "I don't see why not." He looked at the stomach again and grinned. The future looked a lot more interesting than it did a few years ago.

**The End**

**Well that's it, I'm finally done. This was supposed to be a 12 chapter story but just grew in size. But I think this was a neat way to end it and leave room for a future story plus signs of what's to come if I ever make a sequel. Such as the new families being made, to a new leader of Sound etc. I'm just not sure to make it soon after this or just skip ahead years alter for a sequel. Anyways thanks for reading. Maybe I'll come back to this universe in a future date.**

**Also I had to edit out the lemons because of was cracking down on this stuff.**


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